questions to ask when developing a business plan

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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50 Questions Your Business Plan Should Answer

S adly, most investors don't read business plans. However, writing one is the only way you will be able to answer the following 50 questions which an investor will ask you:

1. What is the price of your product or service and why?

2. How much capital is required to execute your business plan?

3. How much is the company is worth?

4. What existing products/services does your company provide?

5. What is the use of the proceeds?

6. On a summary basis, what is the historical financial performance of the company (even if, and perhaps particularly if, you have no revenues)?

7. On a summary basis, what is the projected financial performance of the company?

8. What new products/services are being developed and when will they be ready for market?

9. What is the size of the market for your product in dollars?

10. What is the size of the market in terms of units?

11. How has the market for the product/service changed over the past 5 years and why?

12. How do you anticipate it will change going forward?

13. At what rate is the market for your product growing?

14. Is the competition highly concentrated or highly fragmented?

15. What is your distribution channel and why is it the best one?

16. On a broad level, what are the elements of your marketing strategy?

17. What does it cost to generate a lead, and what is the ratio of leads to sales?

18. What funding is being allocated to new product development from the financing and from ongoing operations?

19. How many potential customers have you talked to?

20. What are the gross and margins on your product/service? Why are they superior or inferior to a competitor?

21. What is your assumptions on the bad debt and collection period for outstanding receivables?

22. What are your working capital needs once sales take off and how will these needs be addressed?

23. What will happen to gross and operating margins as sales rise and why?

24. What percentage of your sales are recurring?

25. Who are your top five executives and what is their professional and educational background?

26. What regulatory or legal threats are present?

27. Are there international markets for this product and is the company positioned to take advantage of them?

28. Who is the largest competitor in your industry?

29. What criteria will be used to choose locations for geographic expansion?

30. How will you get this product into mass market distribution channels?

31. Is the product/service patented?

32. Who are your suppliers and or vendors?

33. Do you have more than one for each supplier/vendor of your basic raw materials or services?

34. What are your payment terms with vendors or suppliers?

35. What will cause gross and operating margins to improve as volume increases or decreases?

36. Where is the company located and how many square feet does it lease or own?

37. What is the length of the sales cycle?

38. How did you estimate returns and allowances?

39. How are sales personnel compensated? Incentivized?

40. What, as a percentage of sales, is the industry norm for R&D expenditures?

41. What is the earnings multiple of public companies like yours?

42. What is your immediate marketing objectives?

43. Does the company have a board of directors or advisors?

44. What is the ownership structure of the company? Who else is an owner?

45. How has the company been financed to date? What other financial transactions have occurred in the past?

46. Has the product generated any publicity? Where?

47. How old are the current liabilities on the balance sheet?

48. Who has prepared the historical financial statements and have they been compiled, reviewed or audited?

49. Is there any cyclically in sales?

50. What are the competitive advantages of your products?

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

David Evanson

David R. Evanson has more than 30 years working in the media, on Wall Street and in media relations. He has worked with investment banks, asset managers, private equity investors and institutional brokers on a variety of marketing and communications challenges. David is also a recognized financial writer, having authored five books on finance and economics, and articles in Barron’s, Forbes, Investment Dealers’ Digest, On Wall Street, Financial Planning and Entrepreneur, among others. David brings to the table a well-developed understanding of the capital markets, investments and corporate finance, and a talent for creating targeted media communications programs for financial services providers.

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30+ Business Plan Questions & Step-By-Step Business Plan Guide

22 March 2024

Table Of Contents

• 30+ Business Plan Question s

8 Steps to Creating a Full-Proof Business Plan

• SurveySparrow: The Best Business Plan Tool

Whether in business, marketing, or sales, you know how crucial a solid business plan is to your success. It’s not just about getting started—it’s about setting a clear direction for growth and innovation. This blog is your first step toward clarity and strategy.

Creating a comprehensive business plan is critical for entrepreneurs and business owners. It serves as a roadmap for your business and helps secure funding from investors and banks.

A well-crafted business plan should address key areas of your business, providing a detailed overview of its objectives, strategies, and financial projections.

Here’s a guide structured around crucial categories, each followed by pertinent business plan questions that will help in developing a robust business plan

30 Critical Business Plan Questions to Ask

Whether you’re steering a startup toward uncharted territories, aiming to elevate an established brand, or driving relentless sales growth, your business plan is the compass that guides your strategy, operations, and financial foresight.

Understanding this, we’ve compiled 30 questions designed to ignite your planning process and refine your business strategy.

Here we go.

Executive Summary

• What is your business’s mission statement?
• What products or services does your business offer?
• Who are the founders, and what is their background?
• What is the current stage of the business (concept, start-up, expansion)?
• What are the key financial highlights?

Market Analysis

6. Who is your target market, and how large is it? 7. What are the current trends and growth in your industry? 8. Who are your competitors, and what are their strengths and weaknesses? 9. How does your business fit into the market? 10. What is your unique value proposition?

Wait, wouldn’t you need a survey to run these questions and gather feedback? What if I told you that you can do that easily with Surveysparrow .

If you’re ready to chart your business path, grab our Free Business Plan Questionnaire Template . Begin your journey to success now.

Sign up for free with your email and start using it right away.

 Marketing and Sales Strategy

11. How will you reach your target market (marketing channels)? 12. What is your pricing strategy? 13. How do you plan to sell your product or service? 14. What is your sales forecast for the first year? 15. How will you measure the success of your marketing efforts?

Operations Plan

16. What is the location of your business, and why? 17. What facilities and equipment do you need? 18. Who are your suppliers, and what are your supply chain logistics? 19. What is the production process? 20. How will you ensure quality control and customer service?

Management and Organization

21. Who makes up the management team, and what are their roles? 22. How does your organizational structure look? 23. What are the backgrounds of your team members? 24. What gaps in expertise or knowledge exist in your team? 25. How will you fill these gaps (hiring, advisors, etc.)?

Financial Plan

26. What are your startup costs? 27. What is your break-even analysis? 28. What are your projected profit and loss statements for the first 1-3 years? 29. What are your cash flow projections? 30. What are the assumptions underlying your financial projections?

By carefully answering these questions, you can construct a thorough business plan that addresses all the critical components needed for your business’s success. Remember, a business plan is not a static document; it should evolve as your business grows and adapts to market changes.

• A Journey Begins: Identifying the Problem
• The Voyage of Discovery: Defining Your Customers
• The Battle Plan: Reaching Your Customers
• Understanding the Landscape: Identifying Your Competitors
• The Strategy Map: Outlining Your Operational Plan
• Charting the Course: Defining Your Business Structure
• The Guardian of Your Venture: Creating a Risk Management Plan
• Calculating the Costs: Budgeting and Financial Projections

1. Identify the Problem

Just as any memorable journey starts with a step, every successful business starts with identifying a problem.

The burning question to answer here is: what problem is your business attempting to solve? Remember, the more specific the issue, the better your chances of designing a unique solution that customers will flock to.

2. Define Your Customers

Identifying your target customer is crucial in the business planning process. This involves understanding and defining your potential customers’ specific demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and needs.

By doing this, you can tailor your products, services, and marketing strategies to meet their specific needs. The more precisely you can define your target audience , the more effectively you can serve them and set your business up for success.

3. Reach Your Customers

Now that You’ve discovered your target customers. Now comes the next challenge: How do you reach them?

Consider all possible marketing channels. Will it be social media? Email newsletters? Influencer partnerships? The choice is yours, but ensure it aligns with where your customers spend their time. After all, there’s no point in sending smoke signals if your customers are tuned into the radio.

 4. Identify Your Competitors

Now you have your bearings; it’s time to study the lay of the land. This means understanding your competition. The question is: Who are they, and how do they solve the same problem?

Understanding your competitors will help you differentiate your business and position it uniquely in the market. After all, in the quest for customer loyalty, your unique selling proposition (USP) is your Excalibur.

 5. Outline Your Operational Plan

So, you’ve identified the problem, defined your customers, planned your marketing, and sized up the competition. You’re almost ready to set sail. But first, there’s another significant piece of the business puzzle to put in place: your operational plan.

Your operational plan should include a detailed plan for sourcing deals. Using the Grata data deal sourcing platform can further help streamline this process and ensure you have access to the most relevant and up-to-date information.

How will your business function day-to-day? What resources will you need? Answering these business plan questions will help you create a clear blueprint of your business operations, ensuring your venture runs as smoothly as a well-oiled machine.

6. Define Your Business Structure

One question that’s often overlooked in the excitement of crafting business plans is this: What is your business structure? Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or LLC ?

Your business structure will significantly affect taxation, liability, and other legalities. It’s like choosing the right ship for your journey – you need one that will safely weather the storms of your entrepreneurial voyage.

7. Create a Risk Management Plan

In the entrepreneurship journey, bumps and detours are part of the course. Having a risk management plan is essential. The business plan question is: What potential obstacles might you face, and how will you mitigate them?

A well-thought-out risk management plan ensures you’re prepared for the challenges ahead.

8. Create Budget and Financial Projections

Now, onto the numbers. What will be the cost of starting and running your business? How soon before you break even? Financial forecasts might seem as daunting as navigating uncharted waters, but they’re vital in answering the essential business-related question : Will your venture be financially viable?

How Can SurveySparrow Help You in Critical Business Planning

With SurveySparrow by your side, you’re never alone in your business planning journey. Its extensive suite of customer and employee experience tools offers invaluable insights to help answer all these key questions in your business plan.

Use SurveySparrow to conduct comprehensive market research, understand customer behavior, and even keep tabs on employee satisfaction. With this trusty tool, you’re well-equipped to answer all your business plan questions, ensuring your entrepreneurial journey is successful.

Here’s how you can do it.

Market Research : SurveySparrow allows you to design and distribute surveys to gather insights about your market. You can explore potential customer needs, preferences, and pain points and evaluate market trends and size, all of which are critical inputs for your business plan.

Customer Segmentation and Profiling : Using SurveySparrow, you can categorize your potential customers based on their preferences, behavior, demographics, and more. This can help you define your target market, tailor your offerings, and devise effective marketing strategies.

Competitor Analysis : By surveying consumers, you can gain insights about your competitors – their strengths, weaknesses, and what customers think of them. This data can be vital in positioning your business uniquely in the market.

Pricing Strategy : You can use surveys to understand what customers are willing to pay for your product or service, helping you devise a suitable pricing strategy.

Risk Assessment : Use surveys to gather feedback about potential risks or barriers to your business. Understanding these risks in advance can help you form strategies to mitigate them.

Employee Engagement : If you plan to have employees, understanding their needs and expectations is crucial for crafting your operations plan and culture. SurveySparrow can assist with gathering employee feedback and gauging engagement .

Product Testing : Before launching, you can use SurveySparrow to get feedback on your product or service. This can help you fine-tune it according to your target market’s needs and preferences.

Financial Projections : The data you gather from customer and market surveys can help inform your sales forecasts and financial projections, key business plan components .

In short, SurveySparrow can offer a wealth of information, helping you answer the critical questions in your business plan. You’re better equipped to create a robust, data-driven business plan by leveraging these tools.

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That’s All of It.

Remember, every successful business starts with a comprehensive business plan. And every comprehensive business plan starts with answering the right questions. So, go ahead and take the plunge. Your entrepreneurial journey awaits, and with SurveySparrow as your co-pilot, you’re set for an exciting voyage.

After all, the sky’s the limit regarding what you can achieve in the business world. Onwards and upwards, future tycoons!

Passionate, eidetic, and a writer at large.

Growth Marketer at SurveySparrow

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6 Critical Questions Your Business Plan Must Answer If you want to lay the groundwork for a stable business and attract investors, make sure you're hitting these points.

By Larry Alton • Mar 18, 2015

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Never underestimate the importance of your business plan . It is the backbone of your company, a foundational pillar from which your enterprise will be built. It's going to serve as the first impression for countless potential partners and investors, and it's going to serve as a roadmap for your whole business -- at least for the first several years.

In some ways, writing a business plan is easy -- there are no rules or requirements for length, format, presentation, or even subject matter. But finding the right answers to the right questions is critical if you want to lay the groundwork for a stable business and attract sufficient attention from investors.

Related: 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

1. What need are you addressing?

This is an important question because it extends beyond the simple "What does your business do?" It's one thing to outline your business in general, describing what products you make or what services you offer, but if you want a solid business plan you have to take it to the next level.

It's nice to imagine your business as providing something useful, and if you're excited about the idea, it's that much easier to think about people buying it. But you need to be logical and critical when you consider the driving force behind your customers' purchasing decisions: what fundamental customer need is your business addressing? You'll want to back this up with research that shows the need actually exists.

2. What makes you different?

It's a big world out there, and startups are constantly coming on and off the radar. Chances are, there are multiple businesses out there who are already serving the crucial need you outlined from question one. That doesn't mean you can't serve it better, or serve it in a different way, but therein lies the challenge—figuring out what makes you different.

First, you'll need to acknowledge all the major players in your space, and this is going to require some research. Acknowledge what they're doing right, what they're doing wrong, and how they're going about their business. Identify the differentiating factor that will allow you to stand out, and emphasize it.

Related: Struggling to Define Your Business Goals? Ask Yourself These Questions.

3. Who is your audience?

Here's a hint: the answer can't be "everybody." No matter how useful or practical your product or service is, there's no way you're going to be able to sell to everyone in the world. Think about factors like age, sex, education, geographic location, working status, marital status, and perform some preliminary market research to determine the best path forward.

Your key demographic may evolve over time, so don't stay too committed to one niche. Also remember, that it's easy to expand to other markets once you've established yourself in one, so if you have multiple key demographics, it may be wise to focus on one to start things off.

4. How is your business going to make money?

This seems like an obvious question to answer, but you'd be surprised how many entrepreneurs fail to elaborate on their plan. The brief answer to this question is "sell products/services," but how are you going to sell? Where are you going to sell? How much are you going to sell for?

The other side of the question is what are your operating expenses? Who are you going to pay? What services or partners will you need to pay for? And ultimately, will the amount you sell be able to surpass the amount you owe? When will you break even?

5. How will you promote your business?

Promoting your business is just as important as creating it. Otherwise, people will never know who you are. Your marketing strategy should start off based on what similar businesses before you have done. Do they rely on traditional advertising or online marketing? Do they attend tradeshows and local events, or use technology to spread the word about their existence?

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Business Plan

6. What do you need to get started?

For many potential partners and investors, this is the bottom line. All businesses have to start somewhere, but that starting line varies dramatically from industry to industry and from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. Do you need any advanced equipment? Who will you need to hire? How much will you need for an initial run? These questions should give you an idea exactly how much capital and what resources you need initially.

It may seem counterintuitive, but answering these questions isn't a one-time process. Your business plan should be a living, changing document that evolves along with your company. Throughout your course of entrepreneurship, you're going to encounter new challenges, new opportunities, and hundreds of factors you never considered as significant to your business when you were writing the initial plan. To survive, you're going to have to revise your answers to these questions and update your business plan accordingly.

Related: The Essential Ingredients to Startup Success

Freelance Writer & Former Entrepreneur

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

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated April 10, 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.

Download Template

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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Business Plan | 60 questions to ask yourself

Today, I’m going to show you the 60 good questions to ask yourself when creating your business plan . Here we go !

60 questions to ask yourself to create a Business Plan

Find in this video, the questions to ask yourself to make a business plan

Below is the support I used for my presentation on the business plan  :

So at the start , to be completely honest with you, I didn’t necessarily want to do an article on business plans. The reason is quite simple. I’m not a big fan of business plans and I’ll tell you why. In fact, 99% of business plans always have the same form, namely, if we take a graph with income on the abscissa and time on the ordinate, we always go through the following phases: we are very poor at the start and afterwards as if by “magic”, you become very rich!

The question that arises is therefore that of the credibility of a business plan.

Why does this simplistic approach bother me?

When starting a business, if there’s one thing that’s hard to predict, it’s revenue levels. Simply because it is impossible to know in advance if we will succeed in obtaining many customers or not, after how long, etc. In other words, the only thing that we can predict more or less correctly are the costs, because with that, we can have a vision that is a little finer and a little more realistic. On the other hand, for income, objectively, even if you rely on statistics, even if you base yourself on market phenomena or trends, these will always be rough approximations.

That’s why often when someone talks to me about a business plan, I tend to take a step back and say to myself “Well, what are they going to tell me now? “.

So why did I finally decide to write an article about it?

I decided to write about business plans today for one simple reason. I had the opportunity to read an article in the Express Entreprise called “ Business plan, the 60 questions to ask yourself to develop it ”. And in fact, I found this article to be really well done. Why ? Quite simply because this article allows you to ask yourself some real good questions.

Indeed, beyond a simplified curve as I was able to show you before, a good business plan, or rather a good way to draw up a business plan, is above all the fact of asking the right questions, and therefore, to defend your project more effectively with a banker, a business angel or an investor. These different questions will allow your investors to see that you have understood all the different parameters necessary to set up your business.

So, I decided to play the game as well.

The 60 questions I’m going to ask myself and make sure to answer them for my business concern SEO consulting .

These 60 questions to ask yourself for your business plan will be organized into 6 main parts:

• Your profile
• The team you are going to train
• The commercial marketing strategies you are going to start
• Protecting your know-how and your product
• Finding financing

I want to do two comments before starting the round of questions.

Of course, some questions will be more or less conducive to my activity. Indeed, insofar as I am going to launch an activity in SEO consulting, do not be surprised if I quickly go over certain questions which will be more related to industrial companies.

Second point that I would like to mention, the opinion or rather the perspective that I am going to give you will be perfectly “personal” and “subjective”. For example, in my current situation, I will not immediately need financing to start my business. Indeed, I have personal resources and I will not spend miles and cents in any case, so I will not call on a banker or an investor. So my view is going to be a bit skewed.

The objective of your business plan is to try to seduce, to show “white paw” to an investor to try to convince him that you know what you are talking about, and you know in which direction your business will go.

Come on, let’s start!

First, let’s talk about market issues.

A) The market

Having a good understanding of your market, the players and what your client wants is essential. This is the first part, one of the most important from my point of view. So first question,

1) What is the size of your market? Is it local, national or global?

The size of the market is indeed important. Quite simply, because there are markets that are really very small and you can’t do much about them. Then there are markets that are huge and sometimes that can be scary.

To the question, “Is it local, national, global?” “.

Objectively, if you start your company, don’t say to yourself from the beginning “I am a company that is global”. If you manage to become a “global” company, good for you. That’s really what I wish for you. The thing is that at the start, it never happens like that. We are on a local, national business, why not. But worldwide, no.

We will try to go there step by step. For the size of your market, you can see that on the different types of statistical studies that exist in your sector. Knowing that, this type of information, we must try to take it with hindsight. Why ? It’s good to have a vision of all the revenues of an industry. The problem is that it doesn’t really give you an indication of how and how many customers you will be able to convert. You just know there is a market and you see the trends are positive.

Now, I will answer you in a concrete way for the SEO sector.

In SEO, the only numbers I could find are industry-wide from a global perspective. In France more particularly, I searched and I found nothing in particular. In any case, what I know is going to be more on the order of trends . Unsurprisingly, there are more and more websites, for one thing. On the other hand, companies are investing more and more money in SEO campaigns to improve their organic traffic.

Am I going to approach this from a local, national or global perspective?

So first of all, my company will be located in a very specific place, namely Paris. Therefore, I will make sure to find clients in Paris and its surroundings. Afterwards, the advantage I have with SEO is that it is an online business. Thus, I will be able to do some of my activities remotely. For example auditing activities or even advice.

As long as I have information like Google Analytics or Google Search Console, I can work from just about anywhere. So initially, it will be from my point of view, local and national. The world, why not. You have to have ambition, that’s for sure, but that’s clearly not the priority. If at some point growth is strong from a local and national perspective, why not consider something else. But not immediately.

Afterwards, you also have to know if the content and services that I offer are likely to be of interest abroad. I think so. But in any case, we start “small”, we start local, potentially national. The world in a second time, but not immediately.

2) How many customers can you expect?

When you are going to start your business, it is important from the start to gauge how many customers you can expect to get. Of course, when you start your business, the number of customers most of the time is zero, and that’s completely normal. Little by little, you will manage to have customers, succeed in convincing them, etc.

Knowing that my activity will be SEO consulting, the objective will be to give the maximum added value to my clients to try to have a real qualitative approach .

What does it mean ?

This means concretely that I aim at the beginning between 1 to 5 customers per month.

Why am I sure of this ratio?

Because I could have said 20 customers. The problem is that in fact if you have 20 customers from the start, and only one person takes care of them, the quality will inevitably plunge. With my SEO agency , I don’t want to tend towards a low-end service, but rather towards a mid-range service at first, to have low prices and customers who are interested. And gradually move up. So between 1 to 5 SEO clients, it seems good to me to have a qualitative approach.

3) On this market, is there a shortage or an excess of supply?

Indeed, there are very competitive markets where there will be a lot of people, and others, much less competitive, where there will be very few people. Therefore, if you have a particular skill that is in high demand, good for you. This means that you will succeed in obtaining significant growth for your activity and your business. Knowing that the competition, or the fact of having for example an excess of supply is not always a problem in itself.

I will have the opportunity to repeat it in other questions that will follow. But in essence, if ever there are people in a market, it means most of the time that there is income in this market. Therefore, you have the opportunity to create a business in this market.

Always pay attention to markets where there is no one. If there is no one, it’s either that everyone has missed out, so it’s a golden opportunity, or it means that there isn’t necessarily any money to be made in this sector.

In SEO, there is no shortage or excess of offers. I would say it’s really in between actually. There are very good freelancers, but also very good agencies. So I don’t think we’re in a kind of over-offering at the SEO consulting level. There are, but I think there is enough room!

4) Can new actors appear in the short term?

Sometimes, it happens to find markets in which players have been there historically. So, if you want to enter this market, it will be possible, but it will be more complicated. So it will depend on your sector, your products, your service, etc.

Regarding SEO, my answer is clearly yes. I think new actors can appear. Currently, there are no predominant players to speak of. There are some very good actors, but none who are particularly above the rest. Regarding the barrier to entry, we will say that it is relatively low. So yes, there is a possibility of seeing new actors appear.

5) Is your activity BtoB (business to business) or BtoC (business to consumer)?

Depending on your business, your activity will tend towards BtoB or BtoC, and of course between the two, the approach will be radically different. In BtoB, you will be dealing with professionals. In BtoC, it will be up to consumers. Consumers and professionals are not approached in exactly the same way. So be aware of the nature of your audience. In this way, you will be able to adjust your communication, your marketing, the commercial aspects, etc.

In SEO, clearly we are on BtoB. Knowing that in the communications that I will do, there will be a large BtoB part and a very small bit of BtoC (for example on YouTube). But basically, the actual SEO consulting service that I am going to offer will be for professionals above all.

6) Is your offer in line with market expectations?

It seems logical, but sometimes we can miss the obvious. So take some time to look at what the competition is doing. Why ? Simply because if you come up with a product or service that is not at all aligned with what your customer wants, you are not going to sell anything, and your income will be 0. Therefore, really try to know market expectations, so you will be able to propose an offer that will be adapted.

For my SEO company, I will make sure that the different offers that I will propose are in line with customer expectations. There will be SEO audit, “On Page SEO”, backlinks, etc. In short, a range of activities that aim to satisfy customers. Knowing that the objective when launching an SEO campaign will be to increase organic traffic to client websites.

7) What are your customers’ expectations? Are they loyal or captive?

Understanding and knowing customer expectations is absolutely crucial. Why ? Quite simply because when you are going to set up your business, you may have things in mind. The problem is that between what you are going to have in mind and the reality, sometimes there is a sort of abyssal gap. Therefore, when setting up a business, first of all, it is important to go to see the customers or to go to see potential customers, and to ask them:

• “Concretely what do you want? “
• How can I help you?” “
• How and what are the elements of added value that I will be able to give you?”SEO

, the expectations are simple. Clients have website(s) and want to get more organic traffic, i.e. traffic coming directly from Google. This is what SEO does. The other element that interests them is going to be the income that is linked to organic traffic. In other words, we increase organic traffic, as well as income.

SEO also allows you to do this. And it will be part of the expectations of customers. Other SEO KPIs can also be interesting, such as the return on investment of an SEO campaign. For example if I invest 1 euro, how much will go into my pocket after this SEO campaign? 2, 3, 4, 5…, 10 euros?

Then, the other element: are the customers loyal or captive?

Indeed, it will be important, because some clients will be difficult to obtain because they are very loyal, for example to the SEO firm with which they work. And others much less. For example if they go through freelancers. Knowing that this is an example. I could very well have said the opposite. There are freelancers who are exceptionally good at what they do. So you shouldn’t be caricatural about that at all. In any case, be aware of the loyalty of your customers.

8) What are the customer benefits of your product or service?

When you’re going to offer a product or service, you need customers to buy it because they feel there’s some kind of added value or extra benefit compared to other products and services on the market. Depending on your sector and industry, these benefits may be different.

In SEO, the benefit for the client lies in having more organic traffic, and earning more money from it.

9) Are you in direct or partial competition with an existing offer?

When you have more or less significant competition on your market, logically, it will be more or less easy to find your place. But to come back to what I was saying earlier, the competition should never scare you. I know that when you’re a new entrepreneur, you often think “Oh lala! There’s competition, I can’t go! “. Don’t take it like that. Really consider the fact that there are people as a real lever for growth. Consider that there is potentially money to be made in this market. Therefore, do not be afraid.

Will it be more complicated than a sector where there is no competition at all? The answer is yes “. But the thing is that sometimes, sectors where there is no competition at all are explained simply by the fact that there are no profits to be made. So don’t be afraid of the competition!

In terms of offers from an SEO point of view, services related to SEO auditing , “ On Page SEO ” or backlinks , are often the types of activity that are offered by companies in this sector.

10) Can you easily differentiate yourself and find a niche position?

When you start a business, try to start, if possible, in a niche, that is to say in a relatively small market segment. Why ? Quite simply because it will allow you to become an “expert” on a very specific part of your market, and to satisfy your customers. This is a good way to get new customers. Then, when you have gained the trust of your customers, you can increase the services offered and grow your business little by little. In any case, I advise you not to start in a huge market. Start small, with a service or something that will set you apart.

At the level of the business that I will launch in SEO consulting, the differentiation will be at the service level. I will really try to promote my service in order to be perceived as an “expert” company in “On page SEO”. It’s part of the things on which I really want to be defined, of an axis on which I really want to press in order to succeed in convincing my clients. So that’s one of the differentiating aspects, and that’s my niche part. Afterwards, there may be changes. We will see how things will develop.

At the level of differentiation, there is also another element on which I think I can distinguish myself. This is about creating my content. There is already a lot of content in SEO. And the content is crucial. Of course, people who work in SEO know how important this is. So I’m going to try things a bit differently. This will notably go through the type of content, for example YouTube videos. I will also particularly make an effort in terms of my blog, my articles, in terms of visuals. I really want to make a consistent effort to show future customers what my company is capable of.

11) How many years of experience does it take to be credible with your customers?

There are sectors where experience is a determining criterion. So, if you don’t have 10, 15, or 20 years of experience, it’s going to be very problematic for you. In SEO, experience is important, but you don’t have to be in this industry for many years.

What you have to understand with SEO is that it is a sector that evolves quickly and regularly. In other words, from the moment Google makes changes to algorithms, it is each time a new way of doing things, because the way of doing SEO changes radically. So the years of experience, why not. But the real criterion from my point of view, to choose the right SEO company will be above all to know which company is the sharpest on the latest news that impact the algorithms.

Finally, it will be its ability to evolve over time, which from my point of view, is the most important element. For example, if a person who has 15 years of experience in SEO, does SEO like the first day of 15 years ago, I can assure you of one thing, it is that at present , it clearly doesn’t work.

12) Who are your competitors?

Take a moment to try to see what the different players are in the market. It could be something important. Afterwards, you have to know them, but you shouldn’t be obsessed with what they do either. Otherwise the only mistake you risk making will be to reproduce a pale copy of the original, which would be a shame. So you have to have a look at the competition, but not be obsessed with it.

SEO is a market where, on the one hand, there are, let’s say, SEO agencies that are structured. From my point of view, there is no actor who stands out more particularly from the others, even if there are very good agencies that already exist. This is the first part of the market. And on the other side, there are the freelancers. Just like for agencies, there are freelancers who are extremely good, others who are not necessarily exceptional. So we can say that there is a kind of duality, with freelancers on one side and agencies on the other.

13) Does your know-how give you a real advantage?

Indeed, there are skills that are extremely rare and that will allow you to have a real advantage. For example, if you are an exceptional craftsman or if you have a special skill. Therefore, you will get a definite advantage to complete a mission that is difficult for others to do.

Speaking of SEO, I think there are several things I think I have an edge on. These include “On Page SEO”, where I have the opportunity to bring a lot of things to market. There are others, but at present, it is above all this aspect that I wish to highlight.

14) Where is the added value created in the sector?

Knowing where the generation of added value is happening in your industry is an important element to know, because it will be a criterion that will affect several elements, including the definition of price levels. For example, if you have an activity that does not create a lot of value, that means that in terms of price, it will be difficult to offer high prices.

The added value in SEO really comes down to the ability to grow a website in terms of organic traffic and increased revenue.

15) How are prices changing?

In some markets, price fluctuations can be considerable. Therefore, it is important to know the specifics of your market in relation to this. Take for example the milk market. Unsurprisingly, you will suffer world prices with staggering price changes. So depending on your sector, you can be hugely impacted by price changes.

In SEO, there are global trends on the market, with average prices for services. After that is negotiated, depending on the customers and the type of service you are going to offer.

In the same way, I will set prices on the business that I am going to start. Since I’m in “start-up” mode, I can’t afford to come up with what we call eccentric prices, that is to say very high or the highest on the market. When you arrive on a market, you must first have your first customers, satisfy them and ask for a recommendation. Thus, thereafter, I could gradually increase my prices if I wish.

So it will be prices, let’s say at the market average, or even a little lower, just to try to be as attractive as possible at first.

16) Will regulatory changes make it more expensive to start the business?

As I had the opportunity to tell you in the introduction, there are questions that are not necessarily going to be favorable for my activity. Maybe that will be the case for yours.

Indeed, legal changes can sometimes impact the launch of a business. Therefore, if you are in a sector prone to regulatory changes, I advise you to regularly monitor developments so as not to be caught off guard. To my knowledge, regulatory changes have no impact on SEO consulting.

17) Who are your suppliers? Are they many? Concentrates?

In SEO, there are no direct providers per se. But if you are for example in the field of ready-to-wear, the fact of having suppliers who are going to be concentrated or not will play a huge role.

Because if you have problems with prices that are too high and there are not many people, that simply means that you will be able to compete. In the opposite case, if there are none, i.e. the suppliers are concentrated, this situation will have a direct impact on your business. So knowing your suppliers well, understanding the very structure of the supplier market will really be relevant for your business.

18) Is it easy to change providers?

This question overlaps enormously with what I have just said a moment ago. Namely, if you have a price or quality problem. You do not have to stay with the same supplier if you are not satisfied with them. So you can change it very quickly.

19) Will they have the power to influence the quality and cost of your offer?

Indeed, if there are not many suppliers and they offer you something that is not of good quality and at prices that are too high, you will have practically no room for maneuver to negotiate.

This situation does not apply to SEO.

Now that we have finished this part on the market, we can now move on to the next one, relating to the profile of the contractor.

B) The profile

Now, I will introduce you to the various questions relating to the profile.

Indeed, when you are going to present your business plan, know that it is above all about you, just like the business in general. Therefore, it is not surprising that investors are interested in what you have done in the past in order to understand your background. Sometimes, some questions can even go as far as the personal life framework, as this is a relevant element for investors. They know that certain personal concerns can have a lasting impact on your business.

20) Have you ever run a business?

This is indeed a question that investors can ask people who want to create their box. Depending on your answer, investors or bankers will be able to assess the risk according to them.

Indeed, investors have more confidence in people who have already managed companies. If you’ve never ridden a box and it’s your first, don’t stress about it forever. There are plenty of examples where people who have never run a company have succeeded by becoming excellent leaders. The best known cases, Bill Gates and Zuckerberg. But many others too. So for me, it’s not mandatory. It’s just a little extra. Some investors sometimes like to think that if the entrepreneur already has experience, it’s more reassuring.

So my answer is yes, I have ridden boxes in the past. Some are completely planted. So the goal is to try to capitalize on what didn’t work to make sure you succeed.

21) Are you trained in management?

Same as the previous question. For me, being trained in management is both important, but not essential, if this is not your case. If you have never studied management, business school or that sort of thing, and you want to set up your company, do not block yourself for this reason. The fact of not being trained in management is a personal point of view after all, it is not the most problematic element.

Afterwards, on this subject, I have a slightly biased point of view. For me, management, it is not compulsory to learn it in training or to go to business school. In my opinion, most of the time, “management” is above all a story of common sense. Namely, are you able to put yourself in the shoes of others to understand their interests? What are its objectives ? What is he aiming for? And many others. It turns out that there are people who are naturally good at management and who have never been to school. Conversely, there are people who have gone to school or studied management, who find themselves at some point in a managerial position and are absolutely catastrophic.

For me, management is above all a relationship with people. I personally believe that there are many more management lessons in the literature than in any other book that will claim to teach you management. Again, this is my point of view, you don’t have to agree with me.

So to the question, have I been trained in management? The answer is yes, I went to business school.

22) Can your family environment facilitate the realization of your project? Do you have the support of your spouse?

This question close to the intimate sphere can sometimes be disturbing. And yet, this is a very important and decisive point.

Simply insofar as when you go to set up your box, you will find yourself in the same situation as if you were creating a kind of boat to go to sea. Obviously, when you set up your box and especially for the first times, it tends to to really rock. There are doubts, uncertainties, you are going to have moments of loneliness and you are going to be afraid. In short, moments when you will feel alive. However, it is so difficult to set up a company if you do not have the family who supports you. It’s a kind of weight that we add to the boat and that can literally sink you.

Same thing with your spouse. It’s even stronger with the spouse. If you want to set up your company and your spouse is not aligned with it, or is even formally opposed to it, it’s a really bad start! Because not only will you have to fight to exist as a company, but in addition, you will have to fight between quotes in your home to show that your decision is the right one. So it’s very difficult.

On a personal level, does my family facilitate the realization of my project from a financial point of view? I’ll be absolutely clear, the answer is no. I don’t come from some sort of upper middle class. My business, I’m going to set it up with my own finances, not asking anyone for money.

Does my family get in the way of setting up my box? The answer is no. But there may be times when some members of my family are afraid.

Ultimately, entrepreneurship is also knowing how to manage your own fears, manage the fears of others, and that can be a little more complicated. But over time, experience and confidence allow me to ensure that this is not a hindrance. So my family doesn’t put a spoke in my wheels in relation to that, but financially doesn’t help me either. Especially since for the activity that I want to create, namely SEO consulting, there is no one in my family who has already set up companies in this area.

Then, in terms of support, I have Mariana’s at 200%. At times, she will even help me with this business that I’m going to set up, especially for all the design aspects related to the brand’s identity. Mariana is therefore a support, and it’s a real pleasure to have someone who supports you on a daily basis because being an entrepreneur is difficult!

23) Do you know someone with whom you can regularly review the project?

Indeed, it is always a good idea to regularly take stock. It can be with someone in your industry, someone who has already set up a company in the same sector… In short, different types of profiles, people who will suit you, knowing that it’s still better to score points with people who know your business or people who have already set up boxes. If this is not the case, it is a little more complicated in fact, because they will not necessarily have, from my point of view, the ability to really give you advice that is relevant to your specific situation. talk.

So am I going to do it?

In fact, the real people I’m going to do the accounts with, in quotes, are you. So you will watch my videos, you will see the evolution of my business, and regularly I will make points. And why are the points important? Quite simply because it allows us to see what we have managed to do, and above all, what will we be aiming for next. So it’s really a good game to operate. Afterwards, don’t spend 15 years there either.

Spending time preparing for meetings to take stock when you’re a start-up, when you’re a big structure, it’s a little different. But when you’re a small start-up, you have to make points, but not spend too much time there either.

Have you ever met an association of creators and support?

Indeed, if it’s your first time, it can really be interesting to join an association that will accompany you in the creation of your box. Knowing that in fact, it will also depend on another element, namely whether you are a solo entrepreneur or whether you already have members in your team.

Depending on this, you will have to adapt your strategy. Because sometimes, when you start in entrepreneurship when you were in another sector, often in the end, you are not really competent, as a business creator. So it requires knowledge, sometimes basic knowledge, knowledge that can be human. In short, there are a lot of things to develop. And about me, rather than very theoretical things, I prefer knowledge that is more pragmatic. Well, that’s my point of view.

So yes, I had the opportunity to go to certain support or designer associations in Paris, in particular some that are quite large and well-known. I stayed there, but not very long. To be honest, I’ve been to some of them just three, four times. In any case, it was never really long term. Quite simply because in fact, I had the feeling that at certain times, it didn’t make me progress very much.

Once again, it is not an overall vision that I wish to give. It’s mine. Simply sometimes, for example when I ask myself a question, I go on the Internet to find out, I watch videos, and in fact, it solves the point where I potentially have a problem or I want to improve. And the problem I find with associations is that they have so many things to deal with that sometimes, from my point of view at least, it’s a bit long, a bit theoretical. In the end, it’s added value that we lose, especially time. When you are an entrepreneur, do not waste time!

Are you ready to make financial sacrifices?

Indeed, when you set up your company, and it is finally quite linked with the story of the spouses / spouses of earlier, the financial side will be something which you must absolutely discuss with your wife, or your man , no matter. To build your company, especially if you are in a position that is relatively comfortable, stable, if you have been in a company for a while and you have prospects, you do not necessarily pose problems, the financial sacrifices you make, but not too much. Also know that when you set up a box, in general the income at the beginning is 0 and therefore, it can be complicated at the start to start your box.

So my advice to you in relation to that is to really imagine what are the things or what are the activities that you consider a sacrifice. The idea when setting up a company is not to be frustrated. Let’s say you love to play sports, gym, whatever, and that’s your passion. If ever when you set up your box, you say to yourself, ok to set up my box, I have to delete my sport or the activity that I particularly enjoy, you will end up being frustrated. So it’s not a good plan at all to do this stuff.

Try to think about things that don’t seem essential to you. And when there are some that really make you happy and you know deleting them will frustrate you, don’t. Really, never delete things that will frustrate you because a frustrated entrepreneur is the worst thing!

What will your financial needs be in the coming years? (children / apartment)

We really get into the personal with these aspects.

Indeed, depending on your business, you will have to give more of yourself. Let’s take the example of a Tech-type business. The thing is, it requires R&D (Research and Development) for several years, before you start generating revenue. I actually mean that sometimes the personal calendar and the professional calendar can be a bit of a confrontation. When you have life goals, sometimes entrepreneurship involves shifting them a bit. So you have to be aware of it to do things right.

Then the third point is to form a team.

C) Forming a team

This goes back to what I was saying earlier. You don’t build a business or an empire alone. We can start alone, that will be my case. But the goal, of course, is to get people to join you in order to succeed in blowing up your business.

Can you rely on a close-knit, complementary, experienced team?

Indeed, when you begin entrepreneurship, in any case a start-up, having a team that is united is very important from my point of view. Besides, experience will come. Even if you’re not the most experienced at the start, it doesn’t matter. From the moment you are welded, it will fix a lot of things.

Obviously, if you are complementary it is also very good. For a very simple reason. It’s that sometimes we can be very good at some things and very bad at others. Therefore, if you manage to bring together people who have different skills, it allows you to accelerate your business much faster.

For once, I’m starting as a solo entrepreneur on this project, so SEO consulting. Knowing that obviously the objective for me, it will then be to grow the company and succeed in creating a complementary, close-knit and experienced team, of course!

Are the key skills for the success of your project represented?

It’s a good question. Because if you want to get into technology, for example, and you don’t have any engineers on your team, it’s complicated. So, still have a minimum of key skills in the activity in which you want to get started. Again, you don’t have to know everything. But at least have a good foundation or key skills in certain aspects. It’s really important for your business.

Personally, I have good SEO skills. On the other hand, one of the elements where I think I will have to find someone fairly quickly to help me is, for example, at the commercial level. I can do things myself, but there are people who are clearly much better than me on this subject. So that’s going to be part of my priorities, in quotes.

Failing that, can you count on outside skills?

In fact the idea is simple. It’s just a question of understanding what your state of mind is in relation to the subject. And understand that if you don’t know how to do everything when you set up your box, that’s normal! Nobody knows how to do everything. A business is not created like that. You’re going to have to have multiple types of people, multiple types of skills, and that’s how you’re going to grow your team and then be successful in the end.

So relying on someone outside or external resources, really take that into consideration. Don’t tell yourself, to launch my company, I have to know how to do everything. Otherwise it will never happen.

Are your goals understood and shared by everyone?

Indeed when you set up a company and you are a team from the start, it is really important to share your objectives with the other members. Why ? Quite simply because if you don’t share your goals, you will gradually realize that in the end, you are not going in the same direction at all.

The problem really is that a start-up at the start, if it ever starts to have a bit of growth and it forms two types of teams, there will be one that wants to go in this direction- there, and the second in the other direction. And I tell you, it will spit fire!

So what you will obviously have to do is communicate as much as possible, see if everyone agrees with you. And if that’s not the case, which can be normal, really try to separate yourself as soon as possible from people who do not potentially share your goals or your vision. Because otherwise it won’t. A concrete example. If in your business, you are with a partner who wants to get money, let’s say extremely quickly, why not, it’s commendable, and your goal is to create a long-term business, which pays you money and allows you to be satisfied over a long period of time, you clearly see that you are in opposition.

So gauge well, see the objectives of each and based on that, make decisions.

Me for example, I am a solo entrepreneur, I agree with myself let’s say, in terms of my objectives. But really, the goal with my business, the business I’m going to create in SEO, is to try to set up an agency that will have a lot of authority in the coming months/years. Because the objective for me is to have a long-term activity. I’m not looking for the first attempt where I make money for a little while and then after, I do something else and I leave I don’t know where. So it’s really long term that I want to create. And that’s why my global approach will always be long term.

Have you planned to retain your key people?

Indeed, when you find people who will have the same objectives as you, people who will have important skills, what you will have to do is succeed in keeping them. It may seem trivial, but managing to keep skills and key people is essential for me. Maybe I have a vision that is a bit particular, but for me, a business is really above all about people. It is above all values ​​that you will share. Therefore, if you ever find people who are aligned with your goals, your values, and who are effective, do everything to keep them.

So there may be several levers, but try to do your best to keep them. It can sometimes be through remuneration, through financial aspects, but it’s not just that either. There are many other aspects that will come into play.

In any case, it is above all a team story, a growing company. And for now, I’m not going to paraphrase Bill Gates, but at one point he told a story where he said that in the end what he made of Microsoft was not so much him, but the 20 first people who joined Microsoft in the very beginning. And I think he’s absolutely right. Simply because a company at the beginning, if there are not the right people or if you cannot keep your key people, things can quickly get out of hand.

Then the fourth part, marketing and commercial strategy.

D) Marketing and sales

strategy Marketing and sales strategy. I tell you, the articles I will do, clearly it will be mostly SEO, but there will also be some on online marketing. Simply because it is absolutely crucial.

So if you have ideas like “yes, marketing is good on paper, but hey there…”, you’ll have to delete them, because marketing is going to be really crucial.

Do you know what types of customers you will be addressing?

Indeed, when you start your business, it will be important to know what type of customers you are aiming for.

In the context of SEO, insofar as I’m going to start, I won’t be able to address myself outright, let’s say, to large companies, for example from the CAC 40. Large structures, clearly, will be inaccessible. Because in addition, to enter the selection process, it’s a lot of things and in any case, it will take time. Therefore, the big boxes later maybe, but not immediately.

First, what I’m really going to focus on will be start-ups, especially those that have raised funds. Because they will have funding. Generally speaking, start-ups that are doing well and already have money that they want to invest in SEO to increase their organic traffic. Because I love start-ups and I think that even beyond SEO, I can give them a lot of advice.

The other element on which I will really try to concentrate, it will be the TPE. Because they already have a rolling business, but do not necessarily have skills on the Internet, especially in terms of SEO. And there clearly, I can give them my expertise, I could help them grow their organic traffic.

Basically, these are the two types of clients that I will prioritize.

Besides, why do you have to prioritize clients?

Simply because at first, you started with very few resources. So the objective is going to be to try to allocate your resources, your time, as best as possible, to obtain clients that will potentially last in the long term. And that as quickly as possible.

That’s why it’s interesting to know from the start which types of customers seem to you to be the most affordable and, above all, those who will also allow you to have a significant margin. If we consider two customers, one with an average margin and the other with a slightly larger margin, prioritizing the one with the larger margin will be interesting, because it will allow you to have more silver. As a result, you will be able to grow your business even faster!

Is your market segmented?

I will take the example of SEO, it will be simpler. The SEO market is clearly segmented, I would even say almost fragmented, in fact. On the one hand, there are the SEO agencies strictly speaking, for which this is their core business. There are several on the market, at least in France. And on the other side, there are let’s say the freelancers. So there you have it, on one side are the agencies and on the other the freelancers.

Have you defined priority targets?

It goes back a bit to what I said before. When you are going to have clients, really try to focus initially on those who are the least difficult to obtain, with the best remuneration, therefore the best margins for you from the start. It is important to prioritize precisely because it will allow you to accelerate faster.

Will you face a network of priority prescribers?

There for once, I don’t know anything about it, I don’t even know what a network of priority prescribers is. So sorry. If it ever concerns you, look, but for once I don’t know.

What are the commercial means to be implemented to reach your turnover objective?

Indeed, I will mix the commercial means with marketing. Of course, when you are in a company that has just started, you do absolutely everything. So all the domains in quotes are mixed. We are not in a big company, where there are people who do the commercial aspects, some the marketing and others the finance. There as a start up, you will do a bit of everything. So the commercial aspects, I’m going to mix them with marketing.

Basically for me, the right way to get new customers is with inbound marketing on one side and outbound marketing on the other. I will explain to you what it is. Inbound marketing in a very simple way is when customers will come to you to see your business and use your service. Outbound marketing is when you contact customers. So you understand that in terms of approach, it’s two different things.

I am someone who strongly believes in inbound marketing . And SEO is inbound marketing. Content creation is also inbound marketing.

The advantage with inbound marketing, it’s a huge advantage, is that when you start it and you do it well, it allows you to have customers on a regular basis, customers who will come constantly knocking on your door asking you to work with them.

Outbound marketing is different. Because you’re the one who goes in quotes to take the time to pick up the phone or send an email. In short, prospecting to get a new client. So we should do inbound marketing from the start. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Because for me, it’s really the most crucial element.

In summary, inbound marketing from the beginning, at the level of content creation, and in parallel a little outbound marketing, the first three months.

Outbound marketing can be useful, effective, but the thing is that inbound marketing, from my point of view, is much more powerful. And that’s why I recommend setting it up from the start.

So here are the different commercial means.

Is your marketing process defined?

The answer is no, I don’t have a process to speak of. Maybe you, it’s already clear in your head.

Yes, I basically know how I’m going to approach a client. Most of the time when doing SEO, one of the good entry points is the customer audit. Because it will make it possible to see what technical problems there may be on the client’s website and therefore help him quickly to resolve them. Afterwards, why not sell another service, an annex to SEO.

So here it is, my marketing process is at that level. But objectively, it deserves to be dug on my part.

How will you organize your sales force?

So there, it’s the same. I think it’s good to ask this kind of question. In a structure, with a team of 2 or 3 people, everyone will do a bit of everything at the start. Except if you decide from the start to split the tasks with a person who will only do the sales. Since I’m a solo entrepreneur right now, the sales force will be me.

Have you planned a forecasting and reporting system?

Indeed when you start a business, when you start an activity, the idea will be to follow your information, financial or otherwise. So having a reporting system is important.

I think I have good Google Sheet and Excel skills in general. So it will be the kind of reporting that I will do when it requires a manual aspect. But especially from an automatic point of view, insofar as I’m going to work on my site, I’m going to use a system called Google Analytics, which can also be coupled with Google Search Console. It doesn’t really matter. But basically, on Google Analytics, you’ll see the sources of your traffic, your revenue and all that. So it will be extremely effective to have a reporting system.

Do you need a marketing function?

So for once, my point of view on the subject will be partisan. But I almost want to say that no matter what you do, whether you’re a plumber, a pastry chef, a consultant or a builder, marketing is very important. And to show you, I’m just going to give you an item.

Imagine, for example, two people with the same skills, and wanting to get into the same sector. They have the same money at the start. We can say that at this stage they are identical. Now, one of them is going to have much more developed marketing skills than the other. I can assure you of one thing, it is that with equivalent skills, the person who is gifted in marketing will explode his business much faster than the other.

So really take that into account. Marketing is not something to be taken lightly, especially not today. After saying that, I’m still going to relativize too. Let’s take the same example.

There are two people who want to create a business on the same activity. One of them is very good at his core business. The other no. The person who is not good at his core business is on the other hand very good at marketing. What’s terrible right now is that the person who is not good at their core business but good at marketing is going to be better off in the short term. In the medium to long term, it’s the other who will come out on top, simply because word of mouth will work. And since his customers will be satisfied, it will make his business grow.

What I mean by that is don’t see marketing as some kind of superfluous thing. It clearly shouldn’t be. Today, to create a successful business, marketing from my point of view is more important today than ever. And tomorrow it will be even more so. You may say to me “From what you say, form is more important than substance”. The thing is, when putting together a box, shape and substance have to be prioritized. There is no form more important than substance, or substance more important than form. Both have to be good.

Have you calculated your communication budget?

Bankers can ask you that question. With the box that I’m going to mount in SEO, I’m not going to bring in any amount of money to speak of. However, I will spend some time there. Because communication is really important, it’s really capital at the start.

So yes, I will spend some time there. Financially no, but it is possible at certain times that I use certain tools. Some of these tools will be free, others will be paid.

Don’t worry, I will have the opportunity to show you concretely how I do it.

What communication tools do you have?

I have already answered a little but indeed, there are tools that will be more or less important. After that, I don’t know exactly which ones. Because depending on the business, there may be things that we prioritize more or less. Depending on your sector, you can prioritize, for example, social networks like Instagram, others are more like Pinterest, or platforms like Linkedin.

In short, depending on your sector, whether you are BtoB or BtoC, and what the customer expects, the tool will vary. So for me, this question is not very relevant.

D) Protecting your know-how and your product

Sometimes depending on your sector of activity, in particular if you’re doing R&D, you’re going to spend time doing research, which can be extremely expensive. And so that just means that in the end, you’re going to have to protect what you’ve done. Because otherwise, there will always be clever people who will be there to steal your technology. Or your know-how.

Can your technological knowledge be subject to legal protection?

Don’t take this lightly. If this is your case, take the time. It’s true that it’s not the most glamorous time when you’re doing entrepreneurship, but it’s really important to protect your business, legally at least, to avoid there being the slightest glitch afterwards. Because it can sometimes go very wrong.

Can your solution establish itself as an industry standard?

Yes. Indeed, the more innovative a solution, the more important it is to protect it. Simply because when you arrive on the market, you potentially explode what is being done, and that can create tension among other players. So have that in mind. And that’s all I wish for you.

If you have a solution like that, congratulations. This is exactly what you should try to do.

Will you have to convince other technological players?

Yes. Of course, there are ultimately certain technologies that are combined with others. And the problem is that if ever these actors don’t agree to implement your solution, well, it simply won’t be viable. It’s not that it won’t be viable, but that it will never exist on the market. So sometimes, there are certain sectors where it can be extremely decisive to check this kind of thing.

Is your innovation in danger of being quickly outdated?

Again, this is not an SEO issue at all. But overall, if you do research and development R&D) for two, three, four years, and you finally realize that when you put the product on the market, 6 months later there is no longer anyone who buys your product , that’s a shame. So it’s true that technology is moving at such a speed today that sometimes it’s a bit difficult to predict what’s going to be the next move. But simply, it is better to say “stop” than to embark on something that will ultimately lead to nothing. Or something outdated.

Have you quantified your R&D needs?

If you are in technology, R&D, you will have to quantify it. Your banker or your business angel will be interested in it.

Will your production tool initially be sufficiently calibrated?

I don’t really know how to understand this question. In any case, my interpretation of it is that if you have a business in ready-to-wear, for example, and you have machines that create your articles, your new products, well from at a certain level, your machines will come to some sort of limit. So that means that potentially you’re going to have to invest again if you want to grow your volume. Knowing that in certain sectors, if you don’t reach a kind of critical size, it’s not really worth it. So hey, I don’t know if that’s the way I should interpret it, but that’s how I understood it.

Do you know how to arbitrate between in-house production and outsourcing?

What I recommend to you in quotes is that depending on what you do, if you have a core business, a core activity, it has to stay in-house. On the other hand, anything that is potentially support, or anything that is not essential and that does not intervene directly in your core business, yes, you can outsource it. But of course, the fact of internalizing things, the fact of subcontracting, generally, it is a bit on a case-by-case basis. Company by company. You really have to ask questions. And there is no obvious answer to such questions.

Finally the last part, it will be to find the financing. 

Find the financing

This is the time when we will talk about finances and when your banker or your business angel will potentially challenge you.

What is your overall financial need?

In many cases, ultimately, to start your business, you will need resources. So the resources, it can be linked to indebtedness. But there may also be resources that will be linked to your equity, so for example to your money or your savings. You can also use what some call “love money”. Love money is simply asking for money from loved ones.

That’s basically. So understanding your financial needs is important because it simply saves you from asking for too much when in the end you won’t need as much. So here it is, it can really be an important thing for bankers.

What is the breakdown between equity and debt?

That for once is important. Your banker will challenge you on the subject. If for example you were planning to take out a bank loan, by putting 0 of your personal contribution, I tell you, there is very little chance that it will work. I would be really curious to know the name of the banker with whom it would have worked, since most of the time it does not happen. Investors are still waiting for you to put your hand in your pocket as a business creator too. It’s a question of credibility. And they too, the investors, they will tell themselves that if they ever lose money, you lose it too.

Is your business a consumer or a revenue generator?

There are businesses finally, where in terms of earnings, it will be complicated. If that doesn’t speak to you, I’ll give you some examples.

Take for example the case of supermarkets. Supermarkets are a type of business that have a positive WCR (Working Capital Requirement). It simply means that the supermarkets will receive the money from the customers. For example, when you go to the supermarket, you pay the structure directly for the different products you buy. So the supermarket receives the money immediately from its customer. On the other hand, the supermarket will pay its suppliers long after. It could be in 30, 60 days. And that, what does that mean from a cash point of view? This means that we will always have a cash flow that will be positive.

So the supermarket will be a revenue generator. This is going to be extremely interesting. And bankers absolutely want to know. Why? Simply because if it’s the opposite and you are a consumer of income or in other words, you have a negative WCR, that will mean that it is your bankers who will finance your lack of cash. And that overall, they don’t like it too much.

The thing with that is that it’s really going to depend on your business type. In the end, there are very few businesses that will be extremely revenue-generating, like the supermarket. So be aware of it, because cash is essential. It has to be taken into account.

What will be your cash flow needs in the first year of activity?

As I told you earlier, cash is really important. Indeed, money in general is the sinews of war. I don’t intend to teach you finance. But understand, the stakes around cash flow are important. There will be lots of challenges. Good investors will really challenge at this level. Because if you don’t have cash, if you can’t generate cash, it’s going to be extremely difficult to make your business last over time.

Afterwards, there may be activities where the BFR is negative, in a structural way. But in that case, you have to have financing and other methods.

What will be the collection time for customers? Can you provide payment deadlines from suppliers?

It goes back a bit to what I just said, with the supermarket stories. In fact, I took for the supermarkets, the cases where the cash flow was positive. Let’s take the opposite case. Suppose you want to set up a box, in ready-to-wear fashion for example. With ready-to-wear, you are going to need working capital from a structural point of view.

Quite simply because in fact, for a collection, between the beginning and the moment when your client is going to pay you, the time is going to be very long. The problem with this is that when you go to create your collection, you will request products from suppliers. And these last ones, you will have to pay them. You can put deadlines on suppliers, but you will have to pay them at some point. Here, your suppliers will ask for their money before your end customers have paid you. So that will mean that you are going to be in the negative.

So. When you are a start-up or an entrepreneur in general, the ability to negotiate the collection time of customers or that of suppliers can be a kind of lever on which you can pull, in order to try to improve your situation by Treasury.

After how many months will your cash flow be consistently positive ?

When I told you that cash is a bit of a cream pie thing, we weren’t there yet. What does it mean? Basically, this means that there will be what we call in finance, cash flow tables, which will allow you to see when you are going to spend and when you are going to receive money. You will be able to make predictions thanks to this. And above all, it will allow you to know in how many months you think that the whole will be positive.

What is the projected amount of your cumulative financing requirement before reaching the cash breakeven point?

It’s the same principle. We ask you how long it will take you to be positive. Basically that’s it. And once again, where it’s problematic, and I’m not at all enthusiastic about that, it’s at the level of sources of income and projected income, when you’re an already established company. When you are, for example, a kind of big liner, it is possible to have income forecasts. In any case in a much more serene way. But when you’re a start-up, it’s absolutely impossible.

So the problem is that we are always on big assumptions. Sometimes things work well, other times they don’t. And the only right way to do that is to test. That’s why I’m not a big fan of it all.

When do you expect to break even?

It’s the same principle. Breakeven point, break-even point… This is the cream pie trick of business plans.

Is the profitability generated over the three to five year horizon sufficient?

There, we are on the stuff that I do not necessarily appreciate with the business plan, but that you must do if you ever ask for money from a banker, the BPI or whoever you want. Because once again, the profitability generated will depend on the income that you are going to fix. And when you start a box, you never know the income that will fall. Just because you look at the numbers from a statistical point of view and from a global point of view doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case. So we are on something very nebulous from my point of view.

That’s it, we’ve done the trick. It took longer than expected. I am sorry. The idea for me was to dig into the subjects to try to show you precisely what questions it may be interesting to ask yourself when making a business plan. The questions I have presented to you are much more relevant than an ever-rising curve. This is what will allow you to finally ask yourself the real good questions that can be useful for your business.

Again, if you ever want to borrow money or you want to present a file to the BPI or to business angels, there is a good chance that they will ask you for a business plan. For income, you can make assumptions. So don’t listen to me if you need money and don’t want to be a solo entrepreneur like me. Do it, you will satisfy the people who need to have this information because it reassures them.

But overall, the concrete usefulness of the thing will be very limited. The business plan will allow you to ask yourself the right questions about the market, about your profile, and therefore, potentially strengthen your conviction that what you are going to do is useful, it will have an impact in the future. , and that you will succeed in growing your business.

So there you have it, thanks for reading to the end. From the next articles, we will get into the pragmatics and it will be from my point of view, much more interesting for you and for me to show you all that.

See you soon!

1 thought on “Business Plan | 60 questions to ask yourself”

This was very helpful,and informative, especially for those that are new to writing business plans it makes it more understandable and practical

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Essential Questions to Ask When Developing a Business Continuity Plan

• July 23, 2018

Developing a business continuity plan is essential in this age of instant connectivity and will give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are prepared for anything. With a business continuity plan, you can ensure that, in times of downtime and power outage, your information and data will be safe and secure. According to Forrester Research, one day of power outages can cost a company over $2 million in expenses and lost revenue. To effectively protect your company’s data and assets, it is critical that you and your team develop a well thought out business continuity plan.  What are some critical questions you should be asking when planning a business continuity plan? Continue reading to find out more:

Automation or Manual Recovery?

It may seem shocking, but many businesses still rely on manual backup and recovery systems. Manual systems are challenging because they require real people (using their finite workday) to access remote facilities to ensure the security of the data. In the event of a severe weather or security crisis, these locations could become virtually inaccessible, and you risk losing everything. With automated backup and recovery, you’ll ensure that all of your information and data is protected and can quickly recover.

What Happens if My System Fails?

Having an automated business continuity plan will make your system and company stronger, and significantly decrease the likelihood that your system suffers expensive downtime. With an automated continuity system in place, you will not only reduce downtime but also save your IT department hours of busywork that simply isn’t necessary anymore. While these systems are continually improving and are vastly more efficient than manual systems, it is essential to understand that finding the right plan for your business depends on a process of research with some trial and error. It is crucial to implement a plan and pay attention to what worked and what didn’t for your unique data needs. Eventually, you will find the continuity plan that works best for your company. It is also imperative to test every element of your strategy. Make sure your plan can be implemented properly by taking the necessary steps beforehand.

Where Should My Remote Facility Be Located?

According to a 2012-2013 Consumer Economics report, more than 60% of American companies with a net worth of over $50 million have more than one remote data facility. Accordingly, nearly 40% of mid-sized American companies are operating with one remote data and recovery facility.  The location of your data recovery center is vital, and you need to ensure that the facility is readily accessible in case of emergency. Companies with only one remote data recovery facility are encouraged to utilize cloud-based data storage solutions to limit the risk of downtime outages further.

Need Help Designing Your Business Continuity Plan?

Building your company can be an exciting process, and it is also a time that requires a lot of precise time and attention. Unfortunately, we live in a world of unknowns, and it is critical to protecting your work, data, and assets from any vulnerability that may be the result of those unknowns. Developing and eventually implementing a business continuity plan will allow you and your company to thrive. With a carefully devised plan, you’ll be able to keep your data and information secure, while keeping your company healthy. Contact Volico today to build the backup strategy your company needs.

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5 Questions Employers Should Ask to Craft Meaningful Development Plans

By TERRA Staffing Group

Posted on February 11, 2021

Development plans are valuable in ensuring your employees are on the right track. A good plan should leave your staff with actionable steps to achieve their professional goals. It should help you make certain that your employees are growing. 

Jennifer Bouman-Steagall, founder of Red Kite Employment Law, trusted HR business partner and expert in team cohesion, shared some great development plan insight in her presentation “ Crafting Meaningful Development Plans ” as part of TERRA’s HR Hotspot webcast series

In this webinar, Jennifer uses her passion and expertise to guide team leaders through the many questions they should ask their staff in order to craft successful development plans. Jennifer divides those questions into five categories and walks her listeners through SWOOP analysis.

Watch her webinar below.

Don’t have time to watch? Don’t worry! We’ll share some of Jennifer’s development plan best practices with you. 

But first…

What is SWOOP Analysis?

Unfamiliar with SWOOP analysis? It’s Jennifer’s answer to the more commonly known SWOT analysis, a planning technique used to identify S trengths, W eaknesses, O pportunities, and T hreats a person or organization might have. 

While useful, Jennifer believes SWOT analyses have a little too much negativity in them. She approaches the concept with more optimism and the belief that everyone has an inner super hero within them, ready to swoop in. It emphasizes the importance of passion and reframes threats more positively as obstacles. 

Her aptly named SWOOP analysis stands for:

S trengths W eaknesses O pportunities O bstacles P assion

Jennifer uses SWOOP to structure the development plan process. We’ve highlighted 5 of the most important questions she recommends employers consider when developing their employee’s plans. Each question will fit within one of the five categories of a SWOOP analysis. 

It is important to note that these questions are not meant to be immediately answered by employees. As a matter of fact, you may not get answers at all. These questions are meant to help employees think more deeply about their goals and what might be preventing them from achieving them. 

5 Questions to Ask When Creating Development Plans:

If you had $100m, what would you do for work.

According to Jennifer, this is one of the most important questions to ask your team members. It’s also one of the first you should ask. It might seem silly, but this question will help you figure out what your staff is passionate about. 

Knowing what drives your staff may help you translate some of that passion into the workplace. Keep in mind that you might not always be able to do so, but you can at least find out why your employees are passionate about something.

This will help you discover what your team loves, what resonates with them, what motivates them, and can help you make their job more meaningful. 

It’s also worth noting that an employee that feels like their employer has an interest in them on a deeper level is more likely to do great work.

What do you do better than anybody else? 

Jennifer explains that this question is a way for you to “empower your team member to celebrate what makes them different, special and unique.”  This is their “time to shine!” 

But you don’t want to put them on the spot. Be sure to give them some time to reflect and think of an answer. If they want to share their answer with you, that’s great. But if they don’t, that’s also OK. 

The purpose of this question is to help them become familiar with their skills and strengths. If your staff is fully aware of what they’re good at, they may think more deeply about the value they bring to the table and how they can translate that to the job.

And who knows? They might have skills you didn’t know about, possibly bringing a whole new skillset to their job. 

What personal resources can you access?

There are an infinite number of resources out there. If you help your employees think about what’s available to them, you’re empowering them to take advantage of those resources. 

For example, does your staff member have access to education? Can they get professional training, attend conferences, or even access books that can help them learn? 

Resources can also be more personal. Does your employee have a support system, people they can confide in, outside of work? Or at work? If they do, it’s good for them to remember they have people they can lean on. 

Essentially, you want to make your employees aware of resources, whether educational or personal, that they might not have previously considered, which could help them grow professionally. 

What tasks do you usually avoid? 

This is not a fun question for anybody to think about. But it is important for a few reasons. First, by asking that question of your staff, you can help them identify potential areas for improvement. 

You’re not trying to make them feel bad about themselves. You’re providing a non-judgmental space in which to think about developmental opportunities. As Jennifer puts so well, “People tend not to experience their full potential when they are avoiding things.”

As a bonus, this question helps you identify if there are any common elements about the job or workplace that your employees dislike. This knowledge can lead you to recognize opportunities to improve or streamline processes as well. 

A development plan should help set your employees up for success. It’s important for them (and you) to know what they avoid so that you can figure out possible solutions together. 

Are there any internal or external factors that are affecting your attitude or your work? 

Of course, you can’t expect your employees to fully divulge their personal issues with you. But, that’s not what this question is about. This is about empowering employees to reflect on what might be stopping them from growing. Jennifer says it best: “We can’t grow if we’re stuck.”  

It will require a lot of self-honesty on their part but it will ultimately be good for your employees to be aware of factors at work or in their personal lives that are potentially impeding their growth. Hopefully, it will prompt them to take positive action.

Now, while you can’t ask them to share personal information, it would be helpful for you to know what might be affecting them. This way you can help your team members remain focused and productive instead of being distracted by what is frustrating them. 

Try to create an environment where employees feel safe and comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. 

Development Plan Takeaways

So, there you have it. There isn’t a perfect recipe to craft the perfect development plan. But if you start by asking your staff those five questions, you’re on the right track! 

And if you want more guidance, make sure to watch Jennifer’s full webinar!

Be aware, however, that crafting a meaningful development plan takes time. Don’t rush through the process. If you want to get the right results, you need to give your employees time to ponder the questions you ask them. Jennifer suggests that your employees have at least a week to fully think through their answers.

If you found her advice helpful, check out these other HR HotSpot webinars presented by Jennifer Bouman-Steagall, spanning a variety of topics:

• “ Rise Together: Explore the Five Cohesive Behaviors of a Team ” 
• “ Conducting Workplace HR Investigations ”
• “ Diversity Playbook: The Unexpected Challenges of Playing Nice at Work ” 

If you are looking for a development plan in action, check out our article about the Best Employee Development Plan Examples .

How TERRA Can Help

TERRA Staffing Group is a leading staffing agency, headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. Our monthly HR HotSpot webinars provide guidance, solutions, and best practices for HR professionals and business leaders.

These free webinars feature insight from industry leaders and experts on a wide variety of topics related to today’s workplace, including talent development and engagement, diversity and inclusion, HR management advice, and much more. 

And if you find yourself needing staffing support, don’t hesitate to reach out to TERRA. Our expert team of recruiters is eager to be a resource in your talent search.

Categories: Employee Development , HR and Management Advice , Professional Development Resources

Tags: employee development plan , HR Advice , HR HotSpot

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