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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, how often should a business plan be updated, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

A business plan is a document that details a company's goals and how it intends to achieve them. Business plans can be of benefit to both startups and well-established companies. For startups, a business plan can be essential for winning over potential lenders and investors. Established businesses can find one useful for staying on track and not losing sight of their goals. This article explains what an effective business plan needs to include and how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document describing a company's business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan can help keep the executive team focused on and working toward the company's short- and long-term objectives.
• There is no single format that a business plan must follow, but there are certain key elements that most companies will want to include.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place prior to beginning operations. In fact, banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before they'll consider making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a business isn't looking to raise additional money, a business plan can help it focus on its goals. A 2017 Harvard Business Review article reported that, "Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs."

Ideally, a business plan should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any goals that have been achieved or that may have changed. An established business that has decided to move in a new direction might create an entirely new business plan for itself.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and highlighting any potential obstacles to success. A company might also share its business plan with trusted outsiders to get their objective feedback. In addition, a business plan can help keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and priorities.

Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they often have some of the same basic elements, as we describe below.

While it's a good idea to provide as much detail as necessary, it's also important that a business plan be concise enough to hold a reader's attention to the end.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, it's best to fit the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and attached as appendices.

These are some of the most common elements in many business plans:

• Executive summary: This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
• Products and services: Here, the company should describe the products and services it offers or plans to introduce. That might include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other factors that could go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any relevant patents the company may have, as well as proprietary technology . Information about research and development (R&D) can also be included here.
• Market analysis: A company needs to have a good handle on the current state of its industry and the existing competition. This section should explain where the company fits in, what types of customers it plans to target, and how easy or difficult it may be to take market share from incumbents.
• Marketing strategy: This section can describe how the company plans to attract and keep customers, including any anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. It should also describe the distribution channel or channels it will use to get its products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections: Established businesses can include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses can provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making.

The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should aim to entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its uniqueness and potential for success.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can take many forms, but they are sometimes divided into two basic categories: traditional and lean startup. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These plans tend to be much longer than lean startup plans and contain considerably more detail. As a result they require more work on the part of the business, but they can also be more persuasive (and reassuring) to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans are short—as short as one page—and provide only the most basic detail. If a company wants to use this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or a lender requests it.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan is not a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections to begin with. Markets and the overall economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All of this calls for building some flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on the nature of the business. A well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary. A new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is an option when a company prefers to give a quick explanation of its business. For example, a brand-new company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide yet.

Sections can include: a value proposition ; the company's major activities and advantages; resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital; a list of partnerships; customer segments; and revenue sources.

A business plan can be useful to companies of all kinds. But as a company grows and the world around it changes, so too should its business plan. So don't think of your business plan as carved in granite but as a living document designed to evolve with your business.

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

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What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates

Published: June 07, 2023

In an era where more than 20% of small enterprises fail in their first year, having a clear, defined, and well-thought-out business plan is a crucial first step for setting up a business for long-term success.

Business plans are a required tool for all entrepreneurs, business owners, business acquirers, and even business school students. But … what exactly is a business plan?

In this post, we'll explain what a business plan is, the reasons why you'd need one, identify different types of business plans, and what you should include in yours.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a documented strategy for a business that highlights its goals and its plans for achieving them. It outlines a company's go-to-market plan, financial projections, market research, business purpose, and mission statement. Key staff who are responsible for achieving the goals may also be included in the business plan along with a timeline.

The business plan is an undeniably critical component to getting any company off the ground. It's key to securing financing, documenting your business model, outlining your financial projections, and turning that nugget of a business idea into a reality.

What is a business plan used for?

The purpose of a business plan is three-fold: It summarizes the organization’s strategy in order to execute it long term, secures financing from investors, and helps forecast future business demands.

Business Plan Template [ Download Now ]

Working on your business plan? Try using our Business Plan Template . Pre-filled with the sections a great business plan needs, the template will give aspiring entrepreneurs a feel for what a business plan is, what should be in it, and how it can be used to establish and grow a business from the ground up.

Purposes of a Business Plan

Chances are, someone drafting a business plan will be doing so for one or more of the following reasons:

1. Securing financing from investors.

Since its contents revolve around how businesses succeed, break even, and turn a profit, a business plan is used as a tool for sourcing capital. This document is an entrepreneur's way of showing potential investors or lenders how their capital will be put to work and how it will help the business thrive.

All banks, investors, and venture capital firms will want to see a business plan before handing over their money, and investors typically expect a 10% ROI or more from the capital they invest in a business.

Therefore, these investors need to know if — and when — they'll be making their money back (and then some). Additionally, they'll want to read about the process and strategy for how the business will reach those financial goals, which is where the context provided by sales, marketing, and operations plans come into play.

2. Documenting a company's strategy and goals.

A business plan should leave no stone unturned.

Business plans can span dozens or even hundreds of pages, affording their drafters the opportunity to explain what a business' goals are and how the business will achieve them.

To show potential investors that they've addressed every question and thought through every possible scenario, entrepreneurs should thoroughly explain their marketing, sales, and operations strategies — from acquiring a physical location for the business to explaining a tactical approach for marketing penetration.

These explanations should ultimately lead to a business' break-even point supported by a sales forecast and financial projections, with the business plan writer being able to speak to the why behind anything outlined in the plan.

Free Business Plan Template

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Free Business Plan [Template]

Fill out the form to access your free business plan., 3. legitimizing a business idea..

Everyone's got a great idea for a company — until they put pen to paper and realize that it's not exactly feasible.

A business plan is an aspiring entrepreneur's way to prove that a business idea is actually worth pursuing.

As entrepreneurs document their go-to-market process, capital needs, and expected return on investment, entrepreneurs likely come across a few hiccups that will make them second guess their strategies and metrics — and that's exactly what the business plan is for.

It ensures an entrepreneur's ducks are in a row before bringing their business idea to the world and reassures the readers that whoever wrote the plan is serious about the idea, having put hours into thinking of the business idea, fleshing out growth tactics, and calculating financial projections.

4. Getting an A in your business class.

Speaking from personal experience, there's a chance you're here to get business plan ideas for your Business 101 class project.

If that's the case, might we suggest checking out this post on How to Write a Business Plan — providing a section-by-section guide on creating your plan?

What does a business plan need to include?

• Business Plan Subtitle
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• The Business Opportunity
• Competitive Analysis
• Target Market
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Summary
• Funding Requirements

1. Business Plan Subtitle

Every great business plan starts with a captivating title and subtitle. You’ll want to make it clear that the document is, in fact, a business plan, but the subtitle can help tell the story of your business in just a short sentence.

2. Executive Summary

Although this is the last part of the business plan that you’ll write, it’s the first section (and maybe the only section) that stakeholders will read. The executive summary of a business plan sets the stage for the rest of the document. It includes your company’s mission or vision statement, value proposition, and long-term goals.

3. Company Description

This brief part of your business plan will detail your business name, years in operation, key offerings, and positioning statement. You might even add core values or a short history of the company. The company description’s role in a business plan is to introduce your business to the reader in a compelling and concise way.

4. The Business Opportunity

The business opportunity should convince investors that your organization meets the needs of the market in a way that no other company can. This section explains the specific problem your business solves within the marketplace and how it solves them. It will include your value proposition as well as some high-level information about your target market.

5. Competitive Analysis

Just about every industry has more than one player in the market. Even if your business owns the majority of the market share in your industry or your business concept is the first of its kind, you still have competition. In the competitive analysis section, you’ll take an objective look at the industry landscape to determine where your business fits. A SWOT analysis is an organized way to format this section.

6. Target Market

Who are the core customers of your business and why? The target market portion of your business plan outlines this in detail. The target market should explain the demographics, psychographics, behavioristics, and geographics of the ideal customer.

7. Marketing Plan

Marketing is expansive, and it’ll be tempting to cover every type of marketing possible, but a brief overview of how you’ll market your unique value proposition to your target audience, followed by a tactical plan will suffice.

Think broadly and narrow down from there: Will you focus on a slow-and-steady play where you make an upfront investment in organic customer acquisition? Or will you generate lots of quick customers using a pay-to-play advertising strategy? This kind of information should guide the marketing plan section of your business plan.

8. Financial Summary

Money doesn’t grow on trees and even the most digital, sustainable businesses have expenses. Outlining a financial summary of where your business is currently and where you’d like it to be in the future will substantiate this section. Consider including any monetary information that will give potential investors a glimpse into the financial health of your business. Assets, liabilities, expenses, debt, investments, revenue, and more are all useful adds here.

So, you’ve outlined some great goals, the business opportunity is valid, and the industry is ready for what you have to offer. Who’s responsible for turning all this high-level talk into results? The "team" section of your business plan answers that question by providing an overview of the roles responsible for each goal. Don’t worry if you don’t have every team member on board yet, knowing what roles to hire for is helpful as you seek funding from investors.

10. Funding Requirements

Remember that one of the goals of a business plan is to secure funding from investors, so you’ll need to include funding requirements you’d like them to fulfill. The amount your business needs, for what reasons, and for how long will meet the requirement for this section.

Types of Business Plans

• Startup Business Plan
• Feasibility Business Plan
• Internal Business Plan
• Strategic Business Plan
• Business Acquisition Plan
• Business Repositioning Plan
• Expansion or Growth Business Plan

There’s no one size fits all business plan as there are several types of businesses in the market today. From startups with just one founder to historic household names that need to stay competitive, every type of business needs a business plan that’s tailored to its needs. Below are a few of the most common types of business plans.

For even more examples, check out these sample business plans to help you write your own .

1. Startup Business Plan

As one of the most common types of business plans, a startup business plan is for new business ideas. This plan lays the foundation for the eventual success of a business.

The biggest challenge with the startup business plan is that it’s written completely from scratch. Startup business plans often reference existing industry data. They also explain unique business strategies and go-to-market plans.

Because startup business plans expand on an original idea, the contents will vary by the top priority goals.

For example, say a startup is looking for funding. If capital is a priority, this business plan might focus more on financial projections than marketing or company culture.

2. Feasibility Business Plan

This type of business plan focuses on a single essential aspect of the business — the product or service. It may be part of a startup business plan or a standalone plan for an existing organization. This comprehensive plan may include:

• A detailed product description
• Market analysis
• Technology needs
• Production needs
• Financial sources
• Production operations

According to CBInsights research, 35% of startups fail because of a lack of market need. Another 10% fail because of mistimed products.

Some businesses will complete a feasibility study to explore ideas and narrow product plans to the best choice. They conduct these studies before completing the feasibility business plan. Then the feasibility plan centers on that one product or service.

3. Internal Business Plan

Internal business plans help leaders communicate company goals, strategy, and performance. This helps the business align and work toward objectives more effectively.

Besides the typical elements in a startup business plan, an internal business plan may also include:

• Department-specific budgets
• Target demographic analysis
• Market size and share of voice analysis
• Action plans
• Sustainability plans

Most external-facing business plans focus on raising capital and support for a business. But an internal business plan helps keep the business mission consistent in the face of change.

4. Strategic Business Plan

Strategic business plans focus on long-term objectives for your business. They usually cover the first three to five years of operations. This is different from the typical startup business plan which focuses on the first one to three years. The audience for this plan is also primarily internal stakeholders.

These types of business plans may include:

• Relevant data and analysis
• Assessments of company resources
• Vision and mission statements

It's important to remember that, while many businesses create a strategic plan before launching, some business owners just jump in. So, this business plan can add value by outlining how your business plans to reach specific goals. This type of planning can also help a business anticipate future challenges.

5. Business Acquisition Plan

Investors use business plans to acquire existing businesses, too — not just new businesses.

A business acquisition plan may include costs, schedules, or management requirements. This data will come from an acquisition strategy.

A business plan for an existing company will explain:

• How an acquisition will change its operating model
• What will stay the same under new ownership
• Why things will change or stay the same
• Acquisition planning documentation
• Timelines for acquisition

Additionally, the business plan should speak to the current state of the business and why it's up for sale.

For example, if someone is purchasing a failing business, the business plan should explain why the business is being purchased. It should also include:

• What the new owner will do to turn the business around
• Historic business metrics
• Sales projections after the acquisition
• Justification for those projections

6. Business Repositioning Plan

When a business wants to avoid acquisition, reposition its brand, or try something new, CEOs or owners will develop a business repositioning plan.

This plan will:

• Acknowledge the current state of the company.
• State a vision for the future of the company.
• Explain why the business needs to reposition itself.
• Outline a process for how the company will adjust.

Companies planning for a business reposition often do so — proactively or retroactively — due to a shift in market trends and customer needs.

For example, shoe brand AllBirds plans to refocus its brand on core customers and shift its go-to-market strategy. These decisions are a reaction to lackluster sales following product changes and other missteps.

7. Expansion or Growth Business Plan

When your business is ready to expand, a growth business plan creates a useful structure for reaching specific targets.

For example, a successful business expanding into another location can use a growth business plan. This is because it may also mean the business needs to focus on a new target market or generate more capital.

This type of plan usually covers the next year or two of growth. It often references current sales, revenue, and successes. It may also include:

• SWOT analysis
• Growth opportunity studies
• Financial goals and plans
• Marketing plans
• Capability planning

These types of business plans will vary by business, but they can help businesses quickly rally around new priorities to drive growth.

Getting Started With Your Business Plan

At the end of the day, a business plan is simply an explanation of a business idea and why it will be successful. The more detail and thought you put into it, the more successful your plan — and the business it outlines — will be.

When writing your business plan, you’ll benefit from extensive research, feedback from your team or board of directors, and a solid template to organize your thoughts. If you need one of these, download HubSpot's Free Business Plan Template below to get started.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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What Is a Business Plan? Definition and Planning Essentials Explained

Posted february 21, 2022 by kody wirth.

What is a business plan? It’s the roadmap for your business. The outline of your goals, objectives, and the steps you’ll take to get there. It describes the structure of your organization, how it operates, as well as the financial expectations and actual performance. 

A business plan can help you explore ideas, successfully start a business, manage operations, and pursue growth. In short, a business plan is a lot of different things. It’s more than just a stack of paper and can be one of your most effective tools as a business owner. 

Let’s explore the basics of business planning, the structure of a traditional plan, your planning options, and how you can use your plan to succeed. 

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a document that explains how your business operates. It summarizes your business structure, objectives, milestones, and financial performance. Again, it’s a guide that helps you, and anyone else, better understand how your business will succeed.  

Why do you need a business plan?

The primary purpose of a business plan is to help you understand the direction of your business and the steps it will take to get there. Having a solid business plan can help you grow up to 30% faster and according to our own 2021 Small Business research working on a business plan increases confidence regarding business health—even in the midst of a crisis. 

These benefits are directly connected to how writing a business plan makes you more informed and better prepares you for entrepreneurship. It helps you reduce risk and avoid pursuing potentially poor ideas. You’ll also be able to more easily uncover your business’s potential. By regularly returning to your plan you can understand what parts of your strategy are working and those that are not.

That just scratches the surface for why having a plan is valuable. Check out our full write-up for fifteen more reasons why you need a business plan .  

What can you do with your plan?

So what can you do with a business plan once you’ve created it? It can be all too easy to write a plan and just let it be. Here are just a few ways you can leverage your plan to benefit your business.

Test an idea

Writing a plan isn’t just for those that are ready to start a business. It’s just as valuable for those that have an idea and want to determine if it’s actually possible or not. By writing a plan to explore the validity of an idea, you are working through the process of understanding what it would take to be successful. 

The market and competitive research alone can tell you a lot about your idea. Is the marketplace too crowded? Is the solution you have in mind not really needed? Add in the exploration of milestones, potential expenses, and the sales needed to attain profitability and you can paint a pretty clear picture of the potential of your business.

Document your strategy and goals

For those starting or managing a business understanding where you’re going and how you’re going to get there are vital. Writing your plan helps you do that. It ensures that you are considering all aspects of your business, know what milestones you need to hit, and can effectively make adjustments if that doesn’t happen. 

With a plan in place, you’ll have an idea of where you want your business to go as well as how you’ve performed in the past. This alone better prepares you to take on challenges, review what you’ve done before, and make the right adjustments.

Pursue funding

Even if you do not intend to pursue funding right away, having a business plan will prepare you for it. It will ensure that you have all of the information necessary to submit a loan application and pitch to investors. So, rather than scrambling to gather documentation and write a cohesive plan once it’s relevant, you can instead keep your plan up-to-date and attempt to attain funding. Just add a use of funds report to your financial plan and you’ll be ready to go.

The benefits of having a plan don’t stop there. You can then use your business plan to help you manage the funding you receive. You’ll not only be able to easily track and forecast how you’ll use your funds but easily report on how it’s been used. 

Better manage your business

A solid business plan isn’t meant to be something you do once and forget about. Instead, it should be a useful tool that you can regularly use to analyze performance, make strategic decisions, and anticipate future scenarios. It’s a document that you should regularly update and adjust as you go to better fit the actual state of your business.

Doing so makes it easier to understand what’s working and what’s not. It helps you understand if you’re truly reaching your goals or if you need to make further adjustments. Having your plan in place makes that process quicker, more informative, and leaves you with far more time to actually spend running your business.

What should your business plan include?

The content and structure of your business plan should include anything that will help you use it effectively. That being said, there are some key elements that you should cover and that investors will expect to see. 

Executive summary

The executive summary is a simple overview of your business and your overall plan. It should serve as a standalone document that provides enough detail for anyone—including yourself, team members, or investors—to fully understand your business strategy. Make sure to cover the problem you’re solving, a description of your product or service, your target market, organizational structure, a financial summary, and any necessary funding requirements.

This will be the first part of your plan but it’s easiest to write it after you’ve created your full plan.

Products & Services

When describing your products or services, you need to start by outlining the problem you’re solving and why what you offer is valuable. This is where you’ll also address current competition in the market and any competitive advantages your products or services bring to the table. Lastly, be sure to outline the steps or milestones that you’ll need to hit to successfully launch your business. If you’ve already hit some initial milestones, like taking pre-orders or early funding, be sure to include it here to further prove the validity of your business. 

Market analysis

A market analysis is a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the current market you’re entering or competing in. It helps you understand the overall state and potential of the industry, who your ideal customers are, the positioning of your competition, and how you intend to position your own business. This helps you better explore the long-term trends of the market, what challenges to expect, and how you will need to initially introduce and even price your products or services.

Check out our full guide for how to conduct a market analysis in just four easy steps .  

Marketing & sales

Here you detail how you intend to reach your target market. This includes your sales activities, general pricing plan, and the beginnings of your marketing strategy. If you have any branding elements, sample marketing campaigns, or messaging available—this is the place to add it. 

Additionally, it may be wise to include a SWOT analysis that demonstrates your business or specific product/service position. This will showcase how you intend to leverage sales and marketing channels to deal with competitive threats and take advantage of any opportunities.

Check out our full write-up to learn how to create a cohesive marketing strategy for your business. 

Organization & management

This section addresses the legal structure of your business, your current team, and any gaps that need to be filled. Depending on your business type and longevity, you’ll also need to include your location, ownership information, and business history. Basically, add any information that helps explain your organizational structure and how you operate. This section is particularly important for pitching to investors but should be included even if attempted funding is not in your immediate future.

Financial projections

Possibly the most important piece of your plan, your financials section is vital for showcasing the viability of your business. It also helps you establish a baseline to measure against and makes it easier to make ongoing strategic decisions as your business grows. This may seem complex on the surface, but it can be far easier than you think. 

Focus on building solid forecasts, keep your categories simple, and lean on assumptions. You can always return to this section to add more details and refine your financial statements as you operate. 

Here are the statements you should include in your financial plan:

• Sales and revenue projections
• Profit and loss statement
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet

The appendix is where you add additional detail, documentation, or extended notes that support the other sections of your plan. Don’t worry about adding this section at first and only add documentation that you think will be beneficial for anyone reading your plan.

Types of business plans explained

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. So, to get the most out of your plan, it’s best to find a format that suits your needs. 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 for external purposes. Typically this is the type of plan you’ll need when applying for funding or pitching to investors. It can also be used when training or hiring employees, working with vendors, or any other situation where the full details of your business must be understood by another individual. 

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. We recommend only starting with this business plan format if you plan to immediately pursue funding and already have a solid handle on your business information. 

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. 

The structure ditches a linear structure in favor of a cell-based template. It encourages you to build connections between every element of your business. It’s faster to write out and update, and much easier for you, your team, and anyone else to visualize your business operations. This is really best for those exploring their business idea for the first time, but keep in mind that it can be difficult to actually validate your idea this way as well as adapt it into a full plan.

One-page business plan

The true middle ground between the business model canvas and a traditional business plan is the one-page business plan. This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. It basically serves as a beefed-up pitch document and can be finished as quickly as the business model canvas.

By starting with a one-page plan, you give yourself a minimal document to build from. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences making it much easier to elaborate or expand sections into a longer-form business plan. This plan type is 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.

Now, the option that we here at LivePlan recommend is the Lean Plan . This 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 holds all of the benefits of the single-page plan, including the potential to complete it in as little as 27-minutes . However, it’s even easier to convert into a full plan thanks to how heavily it’s tied to your financials. The overall goal of Lean Planning isn’t to just produce documents that you use once and shelve. Instead, the Lean Planning process helps you build a healthier company that thrives in times of growth and stable through times of crisis.

It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

Try the LivePlan Method for Lean Business Planning

Now that you know the basics of business planning, it’s time to get started. Again we recommend leveraging a Lean Plan for a faster, easier, and far more useful planning process. 

To get familiar with the Lean Plan format, you can download our free Lean Plan template . However, if you want to elevate your ability to create and use your lean plan even further, you may want to explore LivePlan. 

It features step-by-step guidance that ensures you cover everything necessary while reducing the time spent on formatting and presenting. You’ll also gain access to financial forecasting tools that propel you through the process. Finally, it will transform your plan into a management tool that will help you easily compare your forecasts to your actual results. 

Check out how LivePlan streamlines Lean Planning by downloading our Kickstart Your Business ebook .

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What Is A Business Plan (& Do I Really Need One?)

The term "business plan" is a familiar one, often bandied about in entrepreneurial circles. Yet, despite its ubiquity, it's remarkable how much mystery and confusion can surround this essential business tool.

What exactly is a business plan? What purpose does it serve? How is it structured? This article aims to lift the veil, demystifying the business plan and revealing its multifaceted nature.

Business Plan Definition

A business plan is a document that describes a company's objectives and its marketing, financial, and operational strategies for achieving them. It's more than a mere document; it's a structured communication tool designed to articulate the vision of the business, allowing stakeholders to easily find the information they seek.

The business plan is a tangible reflection of the strategic planning that has gone into the business's future. While the plan is a static document, the planning is a dynamic process, capturing the strategic thinking and decision-making that shape the business's direction.

Purposes of a Business Plan

1. attracting funding opportunities.

A well-crafted business plan illustrates the company's potential for growth and profitability. It outlines the company's vision, mission, and strategies, providing a clear roadmap for success. A potential investor, whether venture capitalists or angel investors, can see how capital will be utilized, fostering trust and confidence in the business venture. A bank or financial institution can assess your company's ability to meet debt service obligations and compliance with strict financial accounting to meet underwriting requirements.

2. Aligning Organizational Objectives

A business plan acts as a unifying document that aligns the team with the company's goals and strategies. It ensures that everyone is on the same page, working towards common objectives. This alignment fosters collaboration and efficiency, driving the business towards its targets.

3. Validating the Business Concept

Before launching, a business plan helps in validating the feasibility of the business idea. It's a rigorous process that tests the concept against real-world scenarios, ensuring that the idea is not only innovative but also practical and sustainable. This validation builds credibility and prepares the business for the challenges ahead. For an existing business, a business plan can help address a possible merger and acquisition (M&A), rolling out a new business product or location, or expanding the target market.

4. Facilitating Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Whether it's securing a visa for international operations or meeting other regulatory requirements, a business plan can be an essential tool. It provides the necessary information in a structured format, demonstrating compliance with legal and regulatory standards. This can streamline processes and prevent potential legal hurdles.

5. Articulating and Formalizing the Business Vision

The business plan is more than a set of numbers and projections; it's the embodiment of the business vision. It communicates the essence of the business to stakeholders, turning abstract ideas into a concrete operational plan. It's a vital tool for leadership to articulate and formalize the vision, setting the stage for strategic execution.

Identifying the Right Type of Business Plan

Once you understand who your business plan is for and what specific needs it must address, you can identify the type of plan that best suits your situation. Business plans can be categorized into two main types: traditional and lean, each serveing its own unique purpose.

Traditional Business Plan

The Traditional Business Plan is a detailed and comprehensive document, often used by a new business, especially those seeking significant funding. It provides a complete picture of the company's vision, strategies, and operations. A traditional business plan leaves no stone unturned, offering a robust tool that communicates the business's entire vision and plan to stakeholders.

Lean Business Plan

In contrast, the Lean Business Plan is an abbreviated structure that still emphasizes the key elements of a Traditional Business Plan, but in less detail. It's suitable for early-stage startups, small businesses, or situations where agility and speed are essential. The Lean Business Plan focuses on the essentials, providing a quick overview without overwhelming details. It's a flexible and adaptable tool that can evolve with the business. One of the primary distinctions between it and a Traditional Business Plan is that a Lean Business Plan does not typically include financial planning, or if it does, it's a simple financial forecast or cash burn.

Components of a Business Plan

There are many places online where you can buy a business plan template. Often, those documents are just an outline of the sections of the business plan and what is included in each. If that's what you're looking for, here's a good business plan outline:

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is the first section read but often the last written, as it encapsulates the entire plan. If the company has a mission statement, it's typically included here. When used for funding, it includes the ask or uses of funds, and for investment, it may contain an investor proposition. It's a concise overview that sets the tone, summarizing each section that follows.

Company Overview

The Company Overview is the foundation of the business, articulating how it operates, generates revenue, and delivers unique value to its customers. This section defines products and/or service the business sells, as well as the company’s business model and unique value proposition. It covers key partners, pricing strategy, revenue model, and other essential business activities. 

Market Analysis Summary

The Market Analysis is the business intelligence portion of the plan. It comprises an industry analysis, market segments, target customers, competitive analysis, competitive advantage. This section provides insights into the market landscape, identifying opportunities, challenges, and how the business positions itself uniquely within the industry.

Strategy & Implementation Summary

Here, the business plan should outline the short-term and long-term objectives, marketing strategy and sales approach. It's a roadmap that details how the business will achieve its goals, including tactical steps, timelines, and resources. In a business plan for investors, the inclusion of an exit strategy can provide a vision for the future, considering various potential outcomes.

Management Summary

The Management Summary offers profiles of key personnel, their qualifications, roles, and plans to fill talent gaps. It's a snapshot of the leadership team, providing assurance that the right people are in place to execute the business plan successfully.

Financial Projections

This section includes standard financial statements like the profit & loss statement (P&L), the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. It offers a detailed financial blueprint, illustrating the company’s revenue drivers and unit assumptions, income statement, a break-even analysis, and a sensitivity analysis to examine how changes in variables affect outcomes. For businesses with complex structures, framing the revenue in terms of market share can offer additional insight into the viability and feasibility of the financial projections.

The Appendices often include year 1 and year 2 monthly financial statements, intellectual property like patents and trademarks, construction blueprints, and other essential documentation. It's a repository for supporting information that adds depth and context to the main sections of the plan.

Do I Need a Business Plan?

The question "Do I need a business plan?" is one that many entrepreneurs and business leaders grapple with. The answer, however, is not as straightforward as it might seem. While not every business requires a traditional business plan, the strategic planning process is essential for all. 

In some cases, a traditional business plan is required. Applying for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan , obtaining a entrepreneurship visa , or meeting specific investor requirements may mandate a comprehensive business plan.

However a traditional business plan isn’t always necessary. For example, in early-stage investor funding, particularly in industries like SaaS, a lean business plan accompanied by a pitch deck presentation will often suffice. The focus here is on agility and essential information rather than exhaustive detail.

Every Business Needs Business Planning

Unlike the traditional business plan, which may or may not be required depending on the situation, business planning as a process is indispensable for every business, regardless of size or stage.

Business planning is a dynamic, continuous process. It's not confined to a single document but evolves with the business, adapting to changes, challenges, and opportunities. Effective strategic planning ensures internal alignment with both long-term vision and short-term objectives. It's a holistic approach that guides business goal-setting decision-making, resource allocation, and strategic direction. It often serves as the basis for a fully developed marketing plan.

Every business, from a small startup to a large corporation, benefits from strategic planning. It's a practice that fosters growth, innovation, and resilience, providing a roadmap for success.

Not every business needs a traditional business plan as a document, but all businesses need to engage in business planning as a process. While the traditional business plan serves specific purposes and audiences, business planning is a universal practice that guides and grows the business.

Entrepreneurs and business leaders must assess their specific needs, recognizing that the traditional business plan is just one tool among many. The true value of the business plan lies in continuous planning, adapting, and aligning with the unique vision and goals of the business.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Simple Business Plan

By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021

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A business plan is the cornerstone of any successful company, regardless of size or industry. This step-by-step guide provides information on writing a business plan for organizations at any stage, complete with free templates and expert advice. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan and a chart to identify which type of business plan you should write . Plus, find information on how a business plan can help grow a business and expert tips on writing one .

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that communicates a company’s goals and ambitions, along with the timeline, finances, and methods needed to achieve them. Additionally, it may include a mission statement and details about the specific products or services offered.

A business plan can highlight varying time periods, depending on the stage of your company and its goals. That said, a typical business plan will include the following benchmarks:

• Product goals and deadlines for each month
• Monthly financials for the first two years
• Profit and loss statements for the first three to five years
• Balance sheet projections for the first three to five years

Startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses all create business plans to use as a guide as their new company progresses. Larger organizations may also create (and update) a business plan to keep high-level goals, financials, and timelines in check.

While you certainly need to have a formalized outline of your business’s goals and finances, creating a business plan can also help you determine a company’s viability, its profitability (including when it will first turn a profit), and how much money you will need from investors. In turn, a business plan has functional value as well: Not only does outlining goals help keep you accountable on a timeline, it can also attract investors in and of itself and, therefore, act as an effective strategy for growth.

For more information, visit our comprehensive guide to writing a strategic plan or download free strategic plan templates . This page focuses on for-profit business plans, but you can read our article with nonprofit business plan templates .

Business Plan Steps

The specific information in your business plan will vary, depending on the needs and goals of your venture, but a typical plan includes the following ordered elements:

• Executive summary
• Description of business
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Description of organizational management
• Description of product or services
• Marketing plan
• Sales strategy
• Funding details (or request for funding)
• Financial projections

If your plan is particularly long or complicated, consider adding a table of contents or an appendix for reference. For an in-depth description of each step listed above, read “ How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step ” below.

Broadly speaking, your audience includes anyone with a vested interest in your organization. They can include potential and existing investors, as well as customers, internal team members, suppliers, and vendors.

Do I Need a Simple or Detailed Plan?

Your business’s stage and intended audience dictates the level of detail your plan needs. Corporations require a thorough business plan — up to 100 pages. Small businesses or startups should have a concise plan focusing on financials and strategy.

How to Choose the Right Plan for Your Business

In order to identify which type of business plan you need to create, ask: “What do we want the plan to do?” Identify function first, and form will follow.

Use the chart below as a guide for what type of business plan to create:

Is the Order of Your Business Plan Important?

There is no set order for a business plan, with the exception of the executive summary, which should always come first. Beyond that, simply ensure that you organize the plan in a way that makes sense and flows naturally.

The Difference Between Traditional and Lean Business Plans

A traditional business plan follows the standard structure — because these plans encourage detail, they tend to require more work upfront and can run dozens of pages. A Lean business plan is less common and focuses on summarizing critical points for each section. These plans take much less work and typically run one page in length.

In general, you should use a traditional model for a legacy company, a large company, or any business that does not adhere to Lean (or another Agile method ). Use Lean if you expect the company to pivot quickly or if you already employ a Lean strategy with other business operations. Additionally, a Lean business plan can suffice if the document is for internal use only. Stick to a traditional version for investors, as they may be more sensitive to sudden changes or a high degree of built-in flexibility in the plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step

Writing a strong business plan requires research and attention to detail for each section. Below, you’ll find a 10-step guide to researching and defining each element in the plan.

Step 1: Executive Summary

The executive summary will always be the first section of your business plan. The goal is to answer the following questions:

• What is the vision and mission of the company?
• What are the company’s short- and long-term goals?

See our  roundup of executive summary examples and templates for samples. Read our executive summary guide to learn more about writing one.

Step 2: Description of Business

The goal of this section is to define the realm, scope, and intent of your venture. To do so, answer the following questions as clearly and concisely as possible:

• What business are we in?
• What does our business do?

Step 3: Market Analysis

In this section, provide evidence that you have surveyed and understand the current marketplace, and that your product or service satisfies a niche in the market. To do so, answer these questions:

• Who is our customer? 
• What does that customer value?

Step 4: Competitive Analysis

In many cases, a business plan proposes not a brand-new (or even market-disrupting) venture, but a more competitive version — whether via features, pricing, integrations, etc. — than what is currently available. In this section, answer the following questions to show that your product or service stands to outpace competitors:

• Who is the competition? 
• What do they do best? 
• What is our unique value proposition?

Step 5: Description of Organizational Management

In this section, write an overview of the team members and other key personnel who are integral to success. List roles and responsibilities, and if possible, note the hierarchy or team structure.

Step 6: Description of Products or Services

In this section, clearly define your product or service, as well as all the effort and resources that go into producing it. The strength of your product largely defines the success of your business, so it’s imperative that you take time to test and refine the product before launching into marketing, sales, or funding details.

Questions to answer in this section are as follows:

• What is the product or service?
• How do we produce it, and what resources are necessary for production?

Step 7: Marketing Plan

In this section, define the marketing strategy for your product or service. This doesn’t need to be as fleshed out as a full marketing plan , but it should answer basic questions, such as the following:

• Who is the target market (if different from existing customer base)?
• What channels will you use to reach your target market?
• What resources does your marketing strategy require, and do you have access to them?
• If possible, do you have a rough estimate of timeline and budget?
• How will you measure success?

Step 8: Sales Plan

Write an overview of the sales strategy, including the priorities of each cycle, steps to achieve these goals, and metrics for success. For the purposes of a business plan, this section does not need to be a comprehensive, in-depth sales plan , but can simply outline the high-level objectives and strategies of your sales efforts. 

Start by answering the following questions:

• What is the sales strategy?
• What are the tools and tactics you will use to achieve your goals?
• What are the potential obstacles, and how will you overcome them?
• What is the timeline for sales and turning a profit?
• What are the metrics of success?

Step 9: Funding Details (or Request for Funding)

This section is one of the most critical parts of your business plan, particularly if you are sharing it with investors. You do not need to provide a full financial plan, but you should be able to answer the following questions:

• How much capital do you currently have? How much capital do you need?
• How will you grow the team (onboarding, team structure, training and development)?
• What are your physical needs and constraints (space, equipment, etc.)?

Step 10: Financial Projections

Apart from the fundraising analysis, investors like to see thought-out financial projections for the future. As discussed earlier, depending on the scope and stage of your business, this could be anywhere from one to five years. 

While these projections won’t be exact — and will need to be somewhat flexible — you should be able to gauge the following:

• How and when will the company first generate a profit?
• How will the company maintain profit thereafter?

Business Plan Template

Download Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel | Smartsheet

This basic business plan template has space for all the traditional elements: an executive summary, product or service details, target audience, marketing and sales strategies, etc. In the finances sections, input your baseline numbers, and the template will automatically calculate projections for sales forecasting, financial statements, and more.

For templates tailored to more specific needs, visit this business plan template roundup or download a fill-in-the-blank business plan template to make things easy. 

If you are looking for a particular template by file type, visit our pages dedicated exclusively to Microsoft Excel , Microsoft Word , and Adobe PDF business plan templates.

How to Write a Simple Business Plan

A simple business plan is a streamlined, lightweight version of the large, traditional model. As opposed to a one-page business plan , which communicates high-level information for quick overviews (such as a stakeholder presentation), a simple business plan can exceed one page.

Below are the steps for creating a generic simple business plan, which are reflected in the template below .

• Write the Executive Summary This section is the same as in the traditional business plan — simply offer an overview of what’s in the business plan, the prospect or core offering, and the short- and long-term goals of the company. 
• Add a Company Overview Document the larger company mission and vision. 
• Provide the Problem and Solution In straightforward terms, define the problem you are attempting to solve with your product or service and how your company will attempt to do it. Think of this section as the gap in the market you are attempting to close.
• Identify the Target Market Who is your company (and its products or services) attempting to reach? If possible, briefly define your buyer personas .
• Write About the Competition In this section, demonstrate your knowledge of the market by listing the current competitors and outlining your competitive advantage.
• Describe Your Product or Service Offerings Get down to brass tacks and define your product or service. What exactly are you selling?
• Outline Your Marketing Tactics Without getting into too much detail, describe your planned marketing initiatives.
• Add a Timeline and the Metrics You Will Use to Measure Success Offer a rough timeline, including milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will use to measure your progress.
• Include Your Financial Forecasts Write an overview of your financial plan that demonstrates you have done your research and adequate modeling. You can also list key assumptions that go into this forecasting. 
• Identify Your Financing Needs This section is where you will make your funding request. Based on everything in the business plan, list your proposed sources of funding, as well as how you will use it.

Simple Business Plan Template

Download Simple Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel |  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF  | Smartsheet

Use this simple business plan template to outline each aspect of your organization, including information about financing and opportunities to seek out further funding. This template is completely customizable to fit the needs of any business, whether it’s a startup or large company.

Read our article offering free simple business plan templates or free 30-60-90-day business plan templates to find more tailored options. You can also explore our collection of one page business templates . 

How to Write a Business Plan for a Lean Startup

A Lean startup business plan is a more Agile approach to a traditional version. The plan focuses more on activities, processes, and relationships (and maintains flexibility in all aspects), rather than on concrete deliverables and timelines.

While there is some overlap between a traditional and a Lean business plan, you can write a Lean plan by following the steps below:

• Add Your Value Proposition Take a streamlined approach to describing your product or service. What is the unique value your startup aims to deliver to customers? Make sure the team is aligned on the core offering and that you can state it in clear, simple language.
• List Your Key Partners List any other businesses you will work with to realize your vision, including external vendors, suppliers, and partners. This section demonstrates that you have thoughtfully considered the resources you can provide internally, identified areas for external assistance, and conducted research to find alternatives.
• Note the Key Activities Describe the key activities of your business, including sourcing, production, marketing, distribution channels, and customer relationships.
• Include Your Key Resources List the critical resources — including personnel, equipment, space, and intellectual property — that will enable you to deliver your unique value.
• Identify Your Customer Relationships and Channels In this section, document how you will reach and build relationships with customers. Provide a high-level map of the customer experience from start to finish, including the spaces in which you will interact with the customer (online, retail, etc.). 
• Detail Your Marketing Channels Describe the marketing methods and communication platforms you will use to identify and nurture your relationships with customers. These could be email, advertising, social media, etc.
• Explain the Cost Structure This section is especially necessary in the early stages of a business. Will you prioritize maximizing value or keeping costs low? List the foundational startup costs and how you will move toward profit over time.
• Share Your Revenue Streams Over time, how will the company make money? Include both the direct product or service purchase, as well as secondary sources of revenue, such as subscriptions, selling advertising space, fundraising, etc.

Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Download Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Startup leaders can use this Lean business plan template to relay the most critical information from a traditional plan. You’ll find all the sections listed above, including spaces for industry and product overviews, cost structure and sources of revenue, and key metrics, and a timeline. The template is completely customizable, so you can edit it to suit the objectives of your Lean startups.

See our wide variety of  startup business plan templates for more options.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan

A business plan for a loan, often called a loan proposal , includes many of the same aspects of a traditional business plan, as well as additional financial documents, such as a credit history, a loan request, and a loan repayment plan.

In addition, you may be asked to include personal and business financial statements, a form of collateral, and equity investment information.

Download free financial templates to support your business plan.

Tips for Writing a Business Plan

Outside of including all the key details in your business plan, you have several options to elevate the document for the highest chance of winning funding and other resources. Follow these tips from experts:.

• Keep It Simple: Avner Brodsky , the Co-Founder and CEO of Lezgo Limited, an online marketing company, uses the acronym KISS (keep it short and simple) as a variation on this idea. “The business plan is not a college thesis,” he says. “Just focus on providing the essential information.”
• Do Adequate Research: Michael Dean, the Co-Founder of Pool Research , encourages business leaders to “invest time in research, both internal and external (market, finance, legal etc.). Avoid being overly ambitious or presumptive. Instead, keep everything objective, balanced, and accurate.” Your plan needs to stand on its own, and you must have the data to back up any claims or forecasting you make. As Brodsky explains, “Your business needs to be grounded on the realities of the market in your chosen location. Get the most recent data from authoritative sources so that the figures are vetted by experts and are reliable.”
• Set Clear Goals: Make sure your plan includes clear, time-based goals. “Short-term goals are key to momentum growth and are especially important to identify for new businesses,” advises Dean.
• Know (and Address) Your Weaknesses: “This awareness sets you up to overcome your weak points much quicker than waiting for them to arise,” shares Dean. Brodsky recommends performing a full SWOT analysis to identify your weaknesses, too. “Your business will fare better with self-knowledge, which will help you better define the mission of your business, as well as the strategies you will choose to achieve your objectives,” he adds.
• Seek Peer or Mentor Review: “Ask for feedback on your drafts and for areas to improve,” advises Brodsky. “When your mind is filled with dreams for your business, sometimes it is an outsider who can tell you what you’re missing and will save your business from being a product of whimsy.”

Outside of these more practical tips, the language you use is also important and may make or break your business plan.

Shaun Heng, VP of Operations at Coin Market Cap , gives the following advice on the writing, “Your business plan is your sales pitch to an investor. And as with any sales pitch, you need to strike the right tone and hit a few emotional chords. This is a little tricky in a business plan, because you also need to be formal and matter-of-fact. But you can still impress by weaving in descriptive language and saying things in a more elegant way.

“A great way to do this is by expanding your vocabulary, avoiding word repetition, and using business language. Instead of saying that something ‘will bring in as many customers as possible,’ try saying ‘will garner the largest possible market segment.’ Elevate your writing with precise descriptive words and you'll impress even the busiest investor.”

Additionally, Dean recommends that you “stay consistent and concise by keeping your tone and style steady throughout, and your language clear and precise. Include only what is 100 percent necessary.”

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

While a template provides a great outline of what to include in a business plan, a live document or more robust program can provide additional functionality, visibility, and real-time updates. The U.S. Small Business Association also curates resources for writing a business plan.

Additionally, you can use business plan software to house data, attach documentation, and share information with stakeholders. Popular options include LivePlan, Enloop, BizPlanner, PlanGuru, and iPlanner.

How a Business Plan Helps to Grow Your Business

A business plan — both the exercise of creating one and the document — can grow your business by helping you to refine your product, target audience, sales plan, identify opportunities, secure funding, and build new partnerships. 

Outside of these immediate returns, writing a business plan is a useful exercise in that it forces you to research the market, which prompts you to forge your unique value proposition and identify ways to beat the competition. Doing so will also help you build (and keep you accountable to) attainable financial and product milestones. And down the line, it will serve as a welcome guide as hurdles inevitably arise.

Streamline Your Business Planning Activities with Real-Time Work Management in Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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Business Plan: What It Is + How to Write One

Discover what a business plan includes and how writing one can foster your business’s development.

What is a business plan? 

A business plan is a written document that defines your business goals and the tactics to achieve those goals. A business plan typically explores the competitive landscape of an industry, analyzes a market and different customer segments within it, describes the products and services, lists business strategies for success, and outlines financial planning.  

In your research into business plans, you may come across different formats, and you might be wondering which kind will work best for your purposes. 

Let’s define two main types of business plans , the traditional business pla n and the lean start-up business plan . Both types can serve as the basis for developing a thriving business, as well as exploring a competitive market analysis, brand strategy , and content strategy in more depth. There are some significant differences to keep in mind [ 1 ]: 

The traditional business plan is a long document that explores each component in depth. You can build a traditional business plan to secure funding from lenders or investors. 

The lean start-up business plan focuses on the key elements of a business’s development and is shorter than the traditional format. If you don’t plan to seek funding, the lean start-up plan can serve mainly as a document for making business decisions and carrying out tasks. 

Now that you have a clear business plan definition , continue reading to begin writing a detailed plan that will guide your journey as an entrepreneur.  

How to write a business plan 

In the sections below, you’ll build the following components of your business plan:

Executive summary

Business description 

Products and services 

Competitor analysis 

Marketing plan and sales strategies 

Brand strategy

Financial planning

Explore each section to bring fresh inspiration to the surface and reveal new possibilities for developing your business. You may choose to adapt the sections, skip over some, or go deeper into others, depending on which format you’re using. Consider your first draft a foundation for your efforts and one that you can revise, as needed, to account for changes in any area of your business.  

Read more: What Is a Marketing Plan? And How to Create One

1. Executive summary 

This is a short section that introduces the business plan as a whole to the people who will be reading it, including investors, lenders, or other members of your team. Start with a sentence or two about your business, your goals for developing it, and why it will be successful. If you are seeking funding, summarize the basics of the financial plan. 

2. Business description 

Use this section to provide detailed information about your company and how it will operate in the marketplace. 

Mission statement: What drives your desire to start a business? What purpose are you serving? What do you hope to achieve for your business, the team, your customers? 

Revenue streams: From what sources will your business generate revenue? Examples include product sales, service fees, subscriptions, rental fees, license fees, and more. 

Leadership: Describe the leaders in your business, their roles and responsibilities, and your vision for building teams to perform various functions, such as graphic design, product development, or sales.  

Legal structure: If you’ve incorporated your business or registered it with your state as a legal entity such as an S-corp or LLC, include the legal structure here and the rationale behind this choice. 

3. Competitor analysis 

This section will include an assessment of potential competitors, their offers, and marketing and sales efforts. For each competitor, explore the following: 

Value proposition: What outcome or experience does this brand promise?

Products and services: How does each one solve customer pain points and fulfill desires? What are the price points? 

Marketing: Which channels do competitors use to promote? What kind of content does this brand publish on these channels? What messaging does this brand use to communicate value to customers?  

Sales: What sales process or buyer’s journey does this brand lead customers through?

Read more: What Is Competitor Analysis? And How to Conduct One

4. Products and services

Use this section to describe everything your business offers to its target market . For every product and service, list the following: 

The value proposition or promise to customers, in terms of how they will experience it

How the product serves customers, addresses their pain points, satisfies their desires, and improves their lives

The features or outcomes that make the product better than those of competitors

Your price points and how these compare to competitors

5. Marketing plan and sales strategies 

In this section, you’ll draw from thorough market research to describe your target market and how you will reach them. 

Who are your ideal customers?   

How can you describe this segment according to their demographics (age, ethnicity, income, location, etc.) and psychographics (beliefs, values, aspirations, lifestyle, etc.)? 

What are their daily lives like? 

What problems and challenges do they experience? 

What words, phrases, ideas, and concepts do consumers in your target market use to describe these problems when posting on social media or engaging with your competitors?  

What messaging will present your products as the best on the market? How will you differentiate messaging from competitors? 

On what marketing channels will you position your products and services?

How will you design a customer journey that delivers a positive experience at every touchpoint and leads customers to a purchase decision?

Read more: Market Analysis: What It Is and How to Conduct One   

6. Brand strategy 

In this section, you will describe your business’s design, personality, values, voice, and other details that go into delivering a consistent brand experience. 

What are the values that define your brand?

What visual elements give your brand a distinctive look and feel?

How will your marketing messaging reflect a distinctive brand voice, including the tone, diction, and sentence-level stylistic choices? 

How will your brand look and sound throughout the customer journey? 

Define your brand positioning statement. What will inspire your audience to choose your brand over others? What experiences and outcomes will your audience associate with your brand? 

Read more: What Is a Brand Strategy? And How to Create One

7. Financial planning  

In this section, you will explore your business’s financial future. If you are writing a traditional business plan to seek funding, this section is critical for demonstrating to lenders or investors that you have a strategy for turning your business ideas into profit. For a lean start-up business plan, this section can provide a useful exercise for planning how you will invest resources and generate revenue [ 2 ].  

Use any past financials and other sections of this business plan, such as your price points or sales strategies, to begin your financial planning. 

How many individual products or service packages do you plan to sell over a specific time period?

List your business expenses, such as subscribing to software or other services, hiring contractors or employees, purchasing physical supplies or equipment, etc.

What is your break-even point, or the amount you have to sell to cover all expenses?

Create a sales forecast for the next three to five years: (No. of units to sell X price for each unit) – (cost per unit X No. of units) = sales forecast

Quantify how much capital you have on hand.

When writing a traditional business plan to secure funding, you may choose to append supporting documents, such as licenses, permits, patents, letters of reference, resumes, product blueprints, brand guidelines, the industry awards you’ve received, and media mentions and appearances.

Business plan key takeaways and best practices

Remember: Creating a business plan is crucial when starting a business. You can use this document to guide your decisions and actions and even seek funding from lenders and investors. 

Keep these best practices in mind:

Your business plan should evolve as your business grows. Return to it periodically, such as every quarter or year, to update individual sections or explore new directions your business can take.

Make sure everyone on your team has a copy of the business plan and welcome their input as they perform their roles. 

Ask fellow entrepreneurs for feedback on your business plan and look for opportunities to strengthen it, from conducting more market and competitor research to implementing new strategies for success. 

Start your business with Coursera 

Ready to start your business? Watch this video on the lean approach from the Entrepreneurship Specialization : 

Article sources

1. US Small Business Administration. “ Write Your Business Plan , https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan." Accessed April 19, 2022.

2. Inc. " How to Write the Financial Section of a Business Plan ,   https://www.inc.com/guides/business-plan-financial-section.html." Accessed April 14, 2022.

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What Is Business Planning?

Why Business Planning Isn't Just for Startups

Susan Ward wrote about small businesses for The Balance for 18 years. She has run an IT consulting firm and designed and presented courses on how to promote small businesses.

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Business planning takes place when the key stakeholders in a business sit down and flesh out all the goals , strategies, and actions that they envision taking to ensure the business’s survival, prosperity, and growth.

Here are some strategies for business planning and the ways it can benefit your business.

Business planning can play out in many different ways. Anytime upper management comes together to plan for the success of a business, it is a form of business planning. Business planning commonly involves collecting ideas in a formal business plan that outlines a summary of the business's current state, as well as the state of the broader market, along with detailed steps the business will take to improve performance in the coming period.

Business plans aren't just about money. The business plan outlines the general planning needed to start and run a successful business, and that includes profits, but it also goes beyond that. A plan should account for everything from scoping out the competition and figuring out how your new business will fit into the industry to assessing employee morale and planning for how to retain talent.

How Does Business Planning Work?

Every new business needs a business plan —a blueprint of how you will develop your new business, backed by research, that demonstrates how the business idea is viable. If your new business idea requires investment capital, you will have a better chance of obtaining debt or equity financing from financial institutions, angel investors , or venture capitalists if you have a solid business plan to back up your ideas.

Businesses should prepare a business plan, even if they don't need to attract investors or secure loans.

Post-Startup Business Planning

The business plan isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it planning exercise. It should be a living document that is updated throughout the life cycle of your business.

Once the business has officially started, business planning will shift to setting and meeting goals and targets. Business planning is most effective when it’s done on a consistent schedule that revisits existing goals and projects throughout the year, perhaps even monthly. In addition to reviewing short-term goals throughout the year, it's also important to establish a clear vision and lay the path for your long-term success.

Daily business planning is an incredibly effective way for individuals to focus on achieving both their own goals and the goals of the organization.

Sales Forecasting

The sales forecast is a key section of the business plan that needs to be constantly tracked and updated. The sales forecast is an estimate of the sales of goods and services your business is likely to achieve over the forecasted period, along with the estimated profit from those sales. The forecast should take into account trends in your industry, the general economy, and the projected needs of your primary customers.

Cash Flow Analysis

Another crucial component of business planning is cash flow analysis. Avoiding extended cash flow shortages is vital for businesses, and many business failures can be blamed on cash flow problems.

Your business may have a large, lucrative order on the books, but if it can't be invoiced until the job is completed, then you may run into cash flow problems. That scenario can get even worse if you have to hire staff, purchase inventory, and make other expenditures in the meantime to complete the project.

Performing regular cash flow projections is an important part of business planning. If managed properly, cash flow shortages can be covered by additional financing or equity investment.

Business Contingency Planning

In addition to business planning for profit and growth, your business should have a contingency plan. Contingency business planning (also known as business continuity planning or disaster planning) is the type of business planning that deals with crises and worst-case scenarios. A business contingency plan helps businesses deal with sudden emergencies, unexpected events, and new information that could disrupt your business.

The goals of a contingency plan are to:

• Provide for the safety and security of yourself, your employees, and your customers in the event of a fire, flood, robbery, data breach, illness, or some other disaster
• Ensure that your business can resume operations after an emergency as quickly as possible

Business Succession Planning

If your business is a family enterprise or you have specific plans for who you want to take over in the event of your retirement or illness, then you should have a plan in place to hand over control of the business . The issues of management, ownership, and taxes can cause a great deal of discord within families unless a succession plan is in place that clearly outlines the process.

Key Takeaways

• Business planning is when key stakeholders review the state of their business and plan for how they will improve the business in the future.
• Business planning isn't a one-off event—it should be an ongoing practice of self-assessment and planning.
• Business planning isn't just about improving sales; it can also address safety during natural disasters or the transfer of power after an owner retires.

Sandeep Kashyap

What is business management? A comprehensive guide

Managing a business is no cakewalk for any entrepreneur. Not everyone has a natural talent to understand the various responsibilities that come under the ambit of business management.

Don’t worry! This guide to What is Business Management will help you understand what it takes to help an organization grow and prosper.

First, let’s get clear with the basics.

What is business management?

Business management is the practice of overseeing and coordinating various activities within an organization to achieve goals efficiently, including planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources and processes.

What types of business management are there?

Although, there are many types of business management; given below are some of the major ones.

1. Financial management

Financial management strives to create a balance between profit and risk to ensure profit for the business.

It requires business managers to plan, direct, and coordinate with investing, banking, insurance, and other financial aspects of the business. There are three key elements of financial management – planning, control, and decision-making.

2. HR management

HR (Human Resource) management deals with a business’s hiring, training, and retention of an employee.

It is not the sole responsibility of the HR department to hire, retain and recruit new employees. The managers of every department are equally responsible for these as it impacts the future growth of an organization.

3. Operations management

Operations management requires business managers to ensure that all departments of an organization are functioning efficiently.

For this, they have to deal with numerous departments and formulate the best business strategies and processes.

The operations teams have to ensure proper acquisition, development, and utilization of resources the business needs.

4. Marketing management

Marketing management takes into consideration the practical application of a business’s marketing resources. There are four core areas of marketing management – Company, Collaborator, Customer, and Competitor analysis.

Brand management, Marketing strategy, and pricing are also three core components of effective marketing management.

5. Strategic management

The success of every business depends on its marketing, financial, and operational strategies. This is where strategic marketing comes into the picture. Strategic management refers to the application of strategic thinking to leading an organization.

This type of business management relies on questions like – Where does a business want to reach and how can it reach there?

To succeed in any type of business management described above, business managers have to be aware of a few practices.

What are some of the best business management tactics?

Given below are 5 of the best business management tactics every business manager should use to help an organization grow.

1. Engage the workforce

No business has ever reached its goal without active and hardworking team members. Business managers have to engage with team members from every department.

A motivated and enthusiastic team member is more likely to help the organization achieve its business goal as opposed to an alienated worker who is more interested in a paycheck.

2. Reward the winners

Some business managers feel that connecting or praising team members on a personal level undermines their authority, but this is not so.

Nothing can replace the motivation an employee feels after being praised for a job well done. Rewarding employees who help a business grow has a positive impact on others.

3. Be vulnerable

Many business managers believe that getting to know the employees makes them look weak, which is absolutely wrong.

Without the ability to be open and share their ideas regarding how a business should go , some business managers lose the trust of the team. This has a negative impact on the project’s and company’s future, not to forget it also impacts employee morale.

4. Embrace technology

Business managers need to be quick when it comes to adapting to the latest technology. It sends a positive message to the customers as well as company employees.

For example, in today’s world, it is vital for every business to not only have a website with smooth navigation and valuable content. Business managers need to ensure that customers can connect with them from anywhere and at any time.

In the long run, if a business wants to stay ahead of the competition then managers have to take up the mantle of adapting to the latest technology in their industry.

5. Have clarity

Many businesses are not able to meet their goals due to a lack of clarity amongst managers who either don’t understand the organization’s vision or are confused about how to achieve it.

To counter this issue, organizations should help them understand a few key concepts;

• Why do we exist?
• What do we do?
• What is most important at the moment?
• Who must do what?

Answering these questions gives business managers a clear idea about the company’s vision, mission, and its values.

There are different ways through which a business manager can help an organization grow and achieve its goal.

Let us now take a look at the different management styles.

Different business management styles

Whether a business manager leads a department, team, or entire organization, it is vital to get familiar with the different management styles.

Knowing about these is an important part of understanding what is business management at its core.

That said, given below are 8 business management types a business manager can adapt to.

1. Democratic management style

The democratic management style helps create a bond of trust and mutual understanding between an organization’s employees and the upper management.

The leaders usually seek input from the employees before making a business decision. Business managers who follow this management style are open to experimenting with new ideas.

2. Laissez-faire management style

Business managers who adopt the Laissez Faire management style do not believe in micromanaging employees.

Employees have complete freedom when working on a given task. It is the best management style when it comes to managing a team of highly experienced professionals.

3. Autocratic management style

Autocratic business managers believe in focusing on results and efficiency. They micromanage the workforce to ensure that everyone follows the organization’s policy.

This management style comes in handy when there are inexperienced employees who need clear and strict instructions regarding a task.

4. Collaborative management style

The collaborative management style requires coordination between managers, supervisors, and employees to attain a common objective.

In this management style, all the employees from different departments work together to ensure the organization achieves its business objectives.

5. Coach management style

Business managers who possess the qualities of a sports team coach can adapt to the coach management style. They have to focus on an employee’s development and know what motivates every team member.

Coach management style helps managers identify the strengths and weaknesses of every team member. It helps push an employee to perform beyond their limitations and improve their chances of growth.

6. Transformational management style

A transformational management style is an approach that business managers use to help an organization move in the right direction.

A transformational business manager not only supervises the various changes taking place in an organization. They also help in managing employee morale which might go low during such times.

7. Bureaucratic management style

The bureaucratic management style requires business managers to assign tasks to employees within a well-defined hierarchy.

This management style requires a focus on rules and procedures rather than collaboration. It is quite successful in heavily regulated industries but not so much in creative industries.

8. Transactional management style

Managers following a transactional management style believe in improving employee performance through bonuses and incentives.

They act as mentors and provide explicit instructions to increase performance and help employees meet the business’ expectations.

It has become easier for business managers to handle small as well as large teams within an organization with the help of various Business Management Systems available.

Who is a business manager?

The end goal of every business is to generate profit. The person who has to ensure this happens to be none other than a business manager.

The business manager is a professional who oversees an organization’s employees and day-to-day operations. Their primary responsibility is ensuring that all business activities remain streamlined at all times.

Business Managers ensure this by executing relevant operational strategies, conducting employee performance reviews, and keeping a tab on everyday activities. They also have to search for opportunities to grow the business and achieve its objective.

Apart from this, Business managers keep an eye on all ongoing projects to determine any area of improvement and identify potential roadblocks.

Still, there is a certain set of skills that all business managers need to possess. Let us see what these are.

ProofHub is the best Business Management Tool! Book Your Demo Now !

Skills every business manager should possess

A business manager has to supervise different teams to help them achieve the desired business goal.

Therefore, anyone looking to get into one of the many business management jobs should definitely possess the skills mentioned below;

1. Communication skills

A business manager has to communicate with project team managers, stakeholders, and higher management. Business managers have to form a positive and trustable relationship with the employees , management, and business owners.

They need to remain connected with the organization’s employees and stakeholders through phone, email & chat. But, for this to happen, they must possess excellent command over verbal and written communication.

2. Financial skills

A business manager has to set a budget for a project and ensure it gets completed within that budget. They have to ensure the project teams work according to the allocated budget. There are many business management tools that can help them perform this task with ease.

Being able to manage the project budget ensures the team completes it within the deadline and it is delivered to the client on time.

3. Leadership skills

A big responsibility on the shoulders of every business manager is boosting the morale of the workforce in the organization. A motivated employee will always give their best in comparison to undervalued employees.

Business managers can do this by interacting with every team socially, providing opportunities for career advancement, and recognizing high-performance team members.

4. Interpersonal skills

Business managers have to communicate regularly with different departments in an organization. Sometimes, they have to be the mediator between two departments that don’t see eye to eye on a project.

It is essential the departments have trust in the business manager. For this, business managers should organize team-building activities and social events. This helps them know the employees on a personal level.

5. Planning skills

Business managers play a vital role in handling day-to-day tasks for a business. However, at the same time, they also need to focus on the bigger picture.

They need to ensure that every task completed by a team helps bring the organization closer to its business goal.

A business manager must have a vision of how the decisions made today would impact the business’s future in the coming years.

6. Organizational skills

Business managers have to don many different hats at the same time. For this, they have to effectively organize and prioritize time to ensure every task is completed on time.

A capable business manager must be able to delegate tasks to different team members with ease. It requires them to know the individual skills of every team member before assigning tasks.

7. Problem-solving skills

Business managers have to make decisions that have a huge impact on an organization’s future.

This includes making quick decisions regarding a project or completing a task without spending too much time on it. They have to think quickly about the pros and cons of a decision.

For this, business managers need to develop a keen eye regarding what is happening in the company. This helps them detect any problems and take corrective measures before it is too late.

These are the essential skills that a business manager should have to excel at what they do. But, there is one more that can help them cover a long journey with the organization.

Business manager vs. business administrator

Still, there are business owners who think that business management is just a single industry. That is not so.

So, knowing about its various types will help you understand what is business management especially if you are just starting out as a business manager.

“Assigning and Managing Day-to-Day Tasks is a Breeze With ProofHub! Start you free trial ! ”

What is a business management system?

Whether you own a small online store or multiple ventures, there is a lot you need to do to handle both. It is here that having a well-defined business management system can help manage difficult tasks easily.

By definition, a Business Management System refers to a set of tools for planning and implementing the various policies, guidelines, and procedures of an organization to execute its business plan.

Having a Business Management system lays down a solid foundation for the successful implementation of strategic and tactical business decisions to meet its objectives.

“In 2020, 54% of enterprises agreed that cloud-based Business Intelligence was vital to their current and future initiatives”. – Forbes

One of the best and most exceptional business management systems that are utilized by leading businesses is ProofHub . It helps business managers handle project tasks, and ensure task deadlines are met by every team in the organization.

How ProofHub can help manage businesses

ProofHub is a cloud-based business management system that helps businesses keep everything organized in one place.

It is one of the best tools for business managers to streamline daily business operations and assign tasks effortlessly.

That is not all! Given below is how ProofHub can help manage businesses with ease.

1. Task management

ProofHub lets project and business managers create, manage, and track assigned tasks with ease. The Kanban boards and Gantt charts help plan and lay down every task in a visually appealing manner.

It lets you set task deadlines, get instant notifications regarding a task, and check out the overall project workflow.

2. Project collaboration

ProofHub keeps every project team member on the same page with its effortless collaboration capabilities.

It also offers Live Chat and Discussions to let project managers connect with team members round-the-clock.

Notes in ProofHub lets managers jot down vital information in one place and share it with the team members.

3. Time management

ProofHub timer tool lets managers keep track of the time spent by a team member on a particular task. 

The time logging, monitoring, and reporting feature help increase employee accountability. The Timesheets in ProofHub help display time logged in by a project team member.

ProofHub comes with many advanced features like Time Tracking to help you keep track of every task in a project.

4. File management

ProofHub comes with smart file storage, versioning, and sorting capabilities. Its file management system offers 100 GB of file storage space for all projects.

This business management tool lets managers upload files, and divide them into separate folders. ProofHub also provides the option of attaching files in team chat and discussions.

5. Progress tracking

The Project Reports feature in ProofHub lets managers know if a project is completed on time or lagging behind.

It gives them enough time to take the appropriate action before things go out of hand.

ProofHub’s Activity Tracker makes it easier to keep track of any modifications or changes done to a project file.

“Looking for the Top Business Management Tool? Try ProofHub ! ”

To be a business manager requires an entrepreneur to develop many skills apart from being a business owner.  With the right business management system by your side, handling day-to-day business operations is way easier than imagined.

FAQ’s

What are the most important components of effective business management.

There are six vital components that contribute to effective business management. These include strategy, marketing, finance, human resources, technology, and operations.

What skills do I need to learn to become a business manager?

To become a proficient business manager, there are 7 skills you need to learn:

* Sound decision-making

* Self-Awareness

* Building Trust

* Becoming a good communicator

* Regular Check-Ins

* Self-Reflection

* Business Management Training

Are there alternative careers in the field of business management?

Yes! Like every profession, business management is a skill required to succeed not only in the corporate world but also other industries like:

* Non-Profits

* Public Service

* Entrepreneurship

* Private Consultancy

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Business Management Definition: Everything You Need to Know

Business management definition is managing the coordination and organization of business activities. This typically includes the production of materials, money, and machines, and involves both innovation and marketing. 3 min read updated on February 01, 2023

Business management definition is managing the coordination and organization of business activities. This typically includes the production of materials, money, and machines, and involves both innovation and marketing. Management is in charge of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the business's resources so they can meet the objectives of the policy.

What Does Management Do?

Managers and directors have the responsibility and power to look over an enterprise and make decisions. The management size can be anything from a single person in an organization to thousands of managers in companies that are in different nations. In bigger organizations, the policy is defined by the board of directors and then carried out by the CEO, or chief executive officer.

Some people think the best way to evaluate a company's future and current worth depends on the experience and quality of the managers. The goal of management is to get people together to achieve the same desired objectives and goals by using the resources that are available in an effective and efficient way.

Management functions include the following:

• Directing or leading
• Controlling an organization

They also encompass the manipulation and deployment of financial resources, natural resources, human resources, and technological resources. Management is necessary to facilitate a united effort towards achieving the company's goals.

What Is Business Management System?

Business Management System, or BMS, is a toolset that's used for tactical implementation and strategic planning of practices, processes, policies, guidelines, and procedures to use in the deployment, execution, and development of business strategies and plans, as well as any associated management activities. They provide a foundation for both tactical and strategic business decisions when it comes to current processes, tasks, activities, and procedures with the goal of meeting all objectives an organization has and satisfying the customer expectations and needs.

The main idea of Business Management System is to give management the tools for monitoring, planning, and controlling their activities and measure the performance of a business. They also aim to put into effect continuous improvement processes in the company. This system finds the principles of the organization's existence and is linked closely to business success criteria. It is a multi-level hierarchy of different business solutions that show how an organization that's profit-oriented will perform different functions, such as marketing, sales, staffing, and purchasing to complete a task successfully.

Business Management Tactics

The functional group of a BMS finds what the tactical techniques and approaches are when it comes to implementing business plans that are linked to their business strategies. Tactical solutions should only be brought up during the decision-making part. They should be executed based on the timeframes that are in the document for the business management strategy. Extra business schedules can be formed and assigned to this tactical implementation practice as well.

Business Management Tactics are defined as activities that follow the business standards that were identified in the company's policies. They put into effect business tasks and plans so they can meet the goals that have been prioritized.

There are also processes and guidelines in this functional group to develop business management plans . The guidelines have practical instructions and directions to show how decision makers can control all the tactical solutions. They include operations and procedures that show how performers get daily tasks and activities accomplished. This group also directs the staff towards the completion of business solutions and recognizing implementation plans that are aligned with the management tactics.

Management Styles

There are several types of management that are common, including democratic, autocratic, paternalistic, and laissez-faire. Democratic management style is used when employees are able to give feedback or input on business decisions. Autocratic management lets the business owner be the person in charge of making all decisions and leading the company through the business environment. When the best work environment possible is created for each employee, it's known as paternalistic management. Laissez-faire has the most employee autonomy and lets decisions be made with little to no business owner oversight.

Traditional management is a hierarchy of employees, with low, mid, and senior-level management. The manager creates expectations for the goals employees need to make.

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12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)

Starting and running a successful business requires proper planning and execution of effective business tactics and strategies .

You need to prepare many essential business documents when starting a business for maximum success; the business plan is one such document.

When creating a business, you want to achieve business objectives and financial goals like productivity, profitability, and business growth. You need an effective business plan to help you get to your desired business destination.

Even if you are already running a business, the proper understanding and review of the key elements of a business plan help you navigate potential crises and obstacles.

This article will teach you why the business document is at the core of any successful business and its key elements you can not avoid.

Let’s get started.

Why Are Business Plans Important?

Business plans are practical steps or guidelines that usually outline what companies need to do to reach their goals. They are essential documents for any business wanting to grow and thrive in a highly-competitive business environment .

1. Proves Your Business Viability

A business plan gives companies an idea of how viable they are and what actions they need to take to grow and reach their financial targets. With a well-written and clearly defined business plan, your business is better positioned to meet its goals.

2. Guides You Throughout the Business Cycle

A business plan is not just important at the start of a business. As a business owner, you must draw up a business plan to remain relevant throughout the business cycle .

During the starting phase of your business, a business plan helps bring your ideas into reality. A solid business plan can secure funding from lenders and investors.

After successfully setting up your business, the next phase is management. Your business plan still has a role to play in this phase, as it assists in communicating your business vision to employees and external partners.

Essentially, your business plan needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the needs of your business.

3. Helps You Make Better Business Decisions

As a business owner, you are involved in an endless decision-making cycle. Your business plan helps you find answers to your most crucial business decisions.

A robust business plan helps you settle your major business components before you launch your product, such as your marketing and sales strategy and competitive advantage.

4. Eliminates Big Mistakes

Many small businesses fail within their first five years for several reasons: lack of financing, stiff competition, low market need, inadequate teams, and inefficient pricing strategy.

Creating an effective plan helps you eliminate these big mistakes that lead to businesses' decline. Every business plan element is crucial for helping you avoid potential mistakes before they happen.

5. Secures Financing and Attracts Top Talents

Having an effective plan increases your chances of securing business loans. One of the essential requirements many lenders ask for to grant your loan request is your business plan.

A business plan helps investors feel confident that your business can attract a significant return on investments ( ROI ).

You can attract and retain top-quality talents with a clear business plan. It inspires your employees and keeps them aligned to achieve your strategic business goals.

Key Elements of Business Plan

Starting and running a successful business requires well-laid actions and supporting documents that better position a company to achieve its business goals and maximize success.

A business plan is a written document with relevant information detailing business objectives and how it intends to achieve its goals.

With an effective business plan, investors, lenders, and potential partners understand your organizational structure and goals, usually around profitability, productivity, and growth.

Every successful business plan is made up of key components that help solidify the efficacy of the business plan in delivering on what it was created to do.

Here are some of the components of an effective business plan.

1. Executive Summary

One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.

In the overall business plan document, the executive summary should be at the forefront of the business plan. It helps set the tone for readers on what to expect from the business plan.

A well-written executive summary includes all vital information about the organization's operations, making it easy for a reader to understand.

The key points that need to be acted upon are highlighted in the executive summary. They should be well spelled out to make decisions easy for the management team.

A good and compelling executive summary points out a company's mission statement and a brief description of its products and services.

An executive summary summarizes a business's expected value proposition to distinct customer segments. It highlights the other key elements to be discussed during the rest of the business plan.

Including your prior experiences as an entrepreneur is a good idea in drawing up an executive summary for your business. A brief but detailed explanation of why you decided to start the business in the first place is essential.

Adding your company's mission statement in your executive summary cannot be overemphasized. It creates a culture that defines how employees and all individuals associated with your company abide when carrying out its related processes and operations.

Your executive summary should be brief and detailed to catch readers' attention and encourage them to learn more about your company.

Components of an Executive Summary

Here are some of the information that makes up an executive summary:

• The name and location of your company
• Products and services offered by your company
• Mission and vision statements
• Success factors of your business plan

2. Business Description

Your business description needs to be exciting and captivating as it is the formal introduction a reader gets about your company.

What your company aims to provide, its products and services, goals and objectives, target audience , and potential customers it plans to serve need to be highlighted in your business description.

A company description helps point out notable qualities that make your company stand out from other businesses in the industry. It details its unique strengths and the competitive advantages that give it an edge to succeed over its direct and indirect competitors.

Spell out how your business aims to deliver on the particular needs and wants of identified customers in your company description, as well as the particular industry and target market of the particular focus of the company.

Include trends and significant competitors within your particular industry in your company description. Your business description should contain what sets your company apart from other businesses and provides it with the needed competitive advantage.

In essence, if there is any area in your business plan where you need to brag about your business, your company description provides that unique opportunity as readers look to get a high-level overview.

Components of a Business Description

Your business description needs to contain these categories of information.

• Business location
• The legal structure of your business
• Summary of your business’s short and long-term goals

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section should be solely based on analytical research as it details trends particular to the market you want to penetrate.

Graphs, spreadsheets, and histograms are handy data and statistical tools you need to utilize in your market analysis. They make it easy to understand the relationship between your current ideas and the future goals you have for the business.

All details about the target customers you plan to sell products or services should be in the market analysis section. It helps readers with a helpful overview of the market.

In your market analysis, you provide the needed data and statistics about industry and market share, the identified strengths in your company description, and compare them against other businesses in the same industry.

The market analysis section aims to define your target audience and estimate how your product or service would fare with these identified audiences.

Market analysis helps visualize a target market by researching and identifying the primary target audience of your company and detailing steps and plans based on your audience location.

Obtaining this information through market research is essential as it helps shape how your business achieves its short-term and long-term goals.

Market Analysis Factors

Here are some of the factors to be included in your market analysis.

• The geographical location of your target market
• Needs of your target market and how your products and services can meet those needs
• Demographics of your target audience

Components of the Market Analysis Section

Here is some of the information to be included in your market analysis.

• Industry description and statistics
• Demographics and profile of target customers
• Marketing data for your products and services
• Detailed evaluation of your competitors

4. Marketing Plan

A marketing plan defines how your business aims to reach its target customers, generate sales leads, and, ultimately, make sales.

Promotion is at the center of any successful marketing plan. It is a series of steps to pitch a product or service to a larger audience to generate engagement. Note that the marketing strategy for a business should not be stagnant and must evolve depending on its outcome.

Include the budgetary requirement for successfully implementing your marketing plan in this section to make it easy for readers to measure your marketing plan's impact in terms of numbers.

The information to include in your marketing plan includes marketing and promotion strategies, pricing plans and strategies , and sales proposals. You need to include how you intend to get customers to return and make repeat purchases in your business plan.

5. Sales Strategy

Sales strategy defines how you intend to get your product or service to your target customers and works hand in hand with your business marketing strategy.

Your sales strategy approach should not be complex. Break it down into simple and understandable steps to promote your product or service to target customers.

Apart from the steps to promote your product or service, define the budget you need to implement your sales strategies and the number of sales reps needed to help the business assist in direct sales.

Your sales strategy should be specific on what you need and how you intend to deliver on your sales targets, where numbers are reflected to make it easier for readers to understand and relate better.

6. Competitive Analysis

Providing transparent and honest information, even with direct and indirect competitors, defines a good business plan. Provide the reader with a clear picture of your rank against major competitors.

Identifying your competitors' weaknesses and strengths is useful in drawing up a market analysis. It is one information investors look out for when assessing business plans.

The competitive analysis section clearly defines the notable differences between your company and your competitors as measured against their strengths and weaknesses.

This section should define the following:

• Your competitors' identified advantages in the market
• How do you plan to set up your company to challenge your competitors’ advantage and gain grounds from them?
• The standout qualities that distinguish you from other companies
• Potential bottlenecks you have identified that have plagued competitors in the same industry and how you intend to overcome these bottlenecks

In your business plan, you need to prove your industry knowledge to anyone who reads your business plan. The competitive analysis section is designed for that purpose.

7. Management and Organization

Management and organization are key components of a business plan. They define its structure and how it is positioned to run.

Whether you intend to run a sole proprietorship, general or limited partnership, or corporation, the legal structure of your business needs to be clearly defined in your business plan.

Use an organizational chart that illustrates the hierarchy of operations of your company and spells out separate departments and their roles and functions in this business plan section.

The management and organization section includes profiles of advisors, board of directors, and executive team members and their roles and responsibilities in guaranteeing the company's success.

Apparent factors that influence your company's corporate culture, such as human resources requirements and legal structure, should be well defined in the management and organization section.

Defining the business's chain of command if you are not a sole proprietor is necessary. It leaves room for little or no confusion about who is in charge or responsible during business operations.

This section provides relevant information on how the management team intends to help employees maximize their strengths and address their identified weaknesses to help all quarters improve for the business's success.

8. Products and Services

This business plan section describes what a company has to offer regarding products and services to the maximum benefit and satisfaction of its target market.

Boldly spell out pending patents or copyright products and intellectual property in this section alongside costs, expected sales revenue, research and development, and competitors' advantage as an overview.

At this stage of your business plan, the reader needs to know what your business plans to produce and sell and the benefits these products offer in meeting customers' needs.

The supply network of your business product, production costs, and how you intend to sell the products are crucial components of the products and services section.

Investors are always keen on this information to help them reach a balanced assessment of if investing in your business is risky or offer benefits to them.

You need to create a link in this section on how your products or services are designed to meet the market's needs and how you intend to keep those customers and carve out a market share for your company.

Repeat purchases are the backing that a successful business relies on and measure how much customers are into what your company is offering.

This section is more like an expansion of the executive summary section. You need to analyze each product or service under the business.

9. Operating Plan

An operations plan describes how you plan to carry out your business operations and processes.

The operating plan for your business should include:

• Information about how your company plans to carry out its operations.
• The base location from which your company intends to operate.
• The number of employees to be utilized and other information about your company's operations.
• Key business processes.

This section should highlight how your organization is set up to run. You can also introduce your company's management team in this section, alongside their skills, roles, and responsibilities in the company.

The best way to introduce the company team is by drawing up an organizational chart that effectively maps out an organization's rank and chain of command.

What should be spelled out to readers when they come across this business plan section is how the business plans to operate day-in and day-out successfully.

10. Financial Projections and Assumptions

Bringing your great business ideas into reality is why business plans are important. They help create a sustainable and viable business.

The financial section of your business plan offers significant value. A business uses a financial plan to solve all its financial concerns, which usually involves startup costs, labor expenses, financial projections, and funding and investor pitches.

All key assumptions about the business finances need to be listed alongside the business financial projection, and changes to be made on the assumptions side until it balances with the projection for the business.

The financial plan should also include how the business plans to generate income and the capital expenditure budgets that tend to eat into the budget to arrive at an accurate cash flow projection for the business.

Base your financial goals and expectations on extensive market research backed with relevant financial statements for the relevant period.

Examples of financial statements you can include in the financial projections and assumptions section of your business plan include:

• Projected income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Balance sheets
• Income statements

Revealing the financial goals and potentials of the business is what the financial projection and assumption section of your business plan is all about. It needs to be purely based on facts that can be measurable and attainable.

11. Request For Funding

The request for funding section focuses on the amount of money needed to set up your business and underlying plans for raising the money required. This section includes plans for utilizing the funds for your business's operational and manufacturing processes.

When seeking funding, a reasonable timeline is required alongside it. If the need arises for additional funding to complete other business-related projects, you are not left scampering and desperate for funds.

If you do not have the funds to start up your business, then you should devote a whole section of your business plan to explaining the amount of money you need and how you plan to utilize every penny of the funds. You need to explain it in detail for a future funding request.

When an investor picks up your business plan to analyze it, with all your plans for the funds well spelled out, they are motivated to invest as they have gotten a backing guarantee from your funding request section.

Include timelines and plans for how you intend to repay the loans received in your funding request section. This addition keeps investors assured that they could recoup their investment in the business.

12. Exhibits and Appendices

Exhibits and appendices comprise the final section of your business plan and contain all supporting documents for other sections of the business plan.

Some of the documents that comprise the exhibits and appendices section includes:

• Legal documents
• Licenses and permits
• Credit histories
• Customer lists

The choice of what additional document to include in your business plan to support your statements depends mainly on the intended audience of your business plan. Hence, it is better to play it safe and not leave anything out when drawing up the appendix and exhibit section.

Supporting documentation is particularly helpful when you need funding or support for your business. This section provides investors with a clearer understanding of the research that backs the claims made in your business plan.

There are key points to include in the appendix and exhibits section of your business plan.

• The management team and other stakeholders resume
• Marketing research
• Permits and relevant legal documents
• Financial documents

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

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Small Business Management Software: Case Studies of Successful Implementations

Small business management software has helped companies across different industries successfully transition from a bootstrapped startup or a “mom and pop” operation to an efficiently run small or medium sized enterprise. Today, no longer is business management software only for the large corporation, but increasingly, vendors are focused on developing powerful small business management software solutions specifically tailored to meet the expanding needs of smaller-sized organizations.

Small business management software includes software for Accounting, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) , and Email Marketing. This article will examine some real life examples of organizations that have taken their business operations to the next level after having successfully implemented some unique small business management software solutions.

A. Accounting Software Case Study: Bascome Trim and Upholstery and Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise

Bryce Forney is the founder of Forney Accountancy Corporation in Pleasant Hill, CA. In 2000, Bryce Forney, CPA, left a big accounting firm to realize his vision of providing value-added accounting for small business owners. He currently consults with over 50 companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and recommends QuickBooks software for most of his small business clients. For example, he has recommended as a small business management software solution to his clients QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, which supports higher transaction volumes, faster performance, expanded inventory control, and job-costing to help his clients see the exact price of doing business. The story of one of Forney’s clients who has benefited from QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is listed as follows:

In 2002, Bascom Trim and Upholstery, a busy car repair shop with 30 employees in Santa Clara, CA implemented QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions under Forney’s advisement. The company’s data file had outgrown QuickBooks Pro, so that only six months’ worth of transactions could be online at a time. This slowed down dealing with repeat customers, who had to be re-entered in the system from scratch. The new system accelerated many parts of an operation already know for its efficiency. General Manager John Wardell says the company was particularly interested in linking its repair orders directly with the accounting system. Before Enterprise, these orders were all recorded in FileMaker Pro, then transferred manually everyday into QuickBooks Pro. Now everything is handled with Enterprise Solutions, which saves hours in reconciling and helps the company clear up any payment issues faster and more professionally.

Bascom also has a more streamlined inventory process thanks to QuickBooks Enterprise. Before, it used to count up items and then match them to the yearend sales figures, a process Bryce says was “painful and inaccurate.” Now whenever any item is purchased, that transaction is entered automatically into the system, so that inventory records are always accurate and up-to-date.

And John can now track inventory from four companies under the same roof—for upholstery, stereos, glass, and detailing — and consolidate them all in the same report, or break out each one separately. “It’s fabulous to get 10 different reports, because I can see 10 different sides of the business,” says John. “We’re really pleased with all the reports we can pull off this system.” John can also do a time-cost analysis for each of his employees. This has led the company to start tying part of an employee’s pay check to their productivity.

Overall, Bascom Trim and Upholstery has been happy with QuickBooks Enterprise. “Everything is all right there in front of you. You can put it all together with QuickBooks payroll, inventory, and time-tracking,” says John. “You don’t need more employees to run the system, and you don’t need to outsource your bookkeeping because you can do it right here.” As a small business management software solution for accounting, QuickBooks delivers a lot of value to small companies who are trying to streamline their operations.

B. ERP Software Case Study: SixApart and the NetSuite Solution

As the developers of TypePad and Movable Type, the world’s leading solutions for bloggers and Web publishers, Six Apart has a complex, growing business that spans the globe. As a fast-growing international company, one of its many challenges was that it needed financial visibility across geographies and currencies for its ongoing operations. Another issue was that its customer subscription model was causing headaches in revenue recognition and compliance. With nothing but QuickBooks and spreadsheets to work with, Six Apart’s revenue recognition was a tedious, error-prone process. Lastly, as the company continued to grow in size and scale, it became clear that high-level managers would need a quick way to quickly capture and synthesize the performance of multiple departments, with complete support for multi-language data.

Six Apart addressed these needs with the implementation of the NetSuite OneWorld platform, a small business management software solution that enabled the company to operate one consolidated Software-as-a-Service ERP system, including financials and revenue recognition, in a unified and fully compliant manner without having to use a large accounting staff or deploying an expensive on-premise software. Moreover, with the OneWorld solution, Six Apart was able to quickly combine its three separate instances of NetSuite into a single, unified operational and reporting platform. This small business management software solution has helped Six Apart avoid spending upwards of $100K per year in IT administration costs and has also shaved days off its monthly closing cycle – making the company much more efficient and GAAP compliant, as well as giving executives insight into any detail they need, by channel customer, product or region.

C. CRM Software Case Study: The Honey Baked Ham Company and the Salesforce Solution

Following the addition of 120 people to its sales force, The HoneyBaked Ham Company of Georgia, a purveyor of high-quality ham, needed a robust yet simple CRM solution to effectively manage its business gifting and catering sales channels. Neither the company’s ACT! database nor the Microsoft Excel database was equipped to scale to support its rapid growth. The company had no visibility into sales activities or a gauge on the effectiveness of its myriad marketing efforts. Because HoneyBaked’s IT team was busy with other development projects, the small business management software solution they needed had to be one that required minimal infrastructure and maintenance. The company also wanted a system that would not intimidate its non-technical users.

After considering developing a small business management software system in-house, HoneyBaked selected Salesforce CRM because it was easy to implement, easy to use, and provided best-in-class functionality out of the box. The company initially tested Salesforce CRM Professional Edition, then quickly rolled out the solution to 130 users company-wide; a dedicated Salesforce.com customer service manager, along with a trained in-house administrator, helps maintain the system.

Salesforce’s small business management software provided the HoneyBaked Ham Company with personalized dashboards, which allowed reps to track sales activities, which were then rolled up to the district manager level, enabling them to see a company-wide view, as well as pipeline and forecast activities. Next, web-to-lead functionality fed incoming inquiries into assignments, providing a way to track lead sources. HoneyBaked also downloaded features such as Opportunity Pop-Up Calculator, Adoption Dashboards, and Account Weather Information applications from AppExchange, which extended the value of Salesforce CRM with solutions that continue to enhance the original investment. Lastly, integration with an order POS and management system on the front end enabled users to update opportunities and accounts within Salesforce CRM.

Overall, the implementation of this small business management software resulted in a dramatic increase in pipeline visibility, giving management the ability to monitor performance, to accurately forecast, and to plan for success. The company now has visibility into its 100 different lead sources, allowing managers to shift marketing and lead generation efforts in the most profitable direction. Instant user adoption improved productivity quickly. Additionally, because users no longer had to fish for information, conversations with customers became more meaningful and productive. Overall, Salesforce’s small business management software for customer relationship management was an effective tool in improving the HoneyBaked Ham Company’s sales and marketing activities.

D. Email Marketing Software Case Study: Finale Desserterie & Bakery and Constant Contact

Established in July 1998, by Paul Conforti and Kim Moore, Finale set out to make super-premium desserts available to everyone. By Valentine’s Day of the following year, Finale had attracted a lot of buzz from local and national media as well as a curious customer base. Having celebrated 10 years in business in 2008, Finale added three more locations and, consequently, more sensational dessert experiences for thousands.

Since Finale is focused exclusively on desserts, the restaurant didn’t suffer from a great deal of competition, but they did face the perception that decadent dessert is an extravagant indulgence that may be out of the price range of many diners. In addition, while weekends, holidays, and special occasions generated consistent business, attracting customers to the restaurant mid-week was a challenge.

As the media continued to highlight Finale’s ultra-premium desserts, it became more imperative to communicate the message that Finale’s desserts were not limited to special occasions, but ideal for everyone, anytime. In addition, Finale had cultivated a loyal, growing customer base to which it needed to communicate. Finale began using small business management software that included an email marketing solution from Constant Contact to communicate events, new desserts, special offers, or other news to its customers. Finale quickly realized that it was experiencing a significant boost in reservations and inquiries following each email campaign it sent. “We always sell out events when we use Constant Contact to tell our customers about them,” said Conforti. “For example, we recently used it to tell our guests about a tasting at our Coolidge Corner location. We sold out 40 seats from an email we sent the week before. At $30 per seating for 40 seats, that’s $1200 in revenue with one e-mail message.”

The restaurant has also used Constant Contact to request feedback from its customer base. For example, in July, Finale sent out an email asking customers what they’d like to see on the holiday menu. Finale received more than 100 responses to its mailing in 24 hours and more than 300 in 72 hours. “People are writing back just saying thanks for asking,” says Kim Moore, Finale’s co-founder. “It’s a very real way to be connected to our customer base.”

Finale now has more than 14,000 customers who receive its emails. The results have been absolutely sensational since implementing a small business management software system. From sold out events to customer feedback, Finale recognizes the tremendous value Constant Contact has provided to the business.

In addition, based on the success of the holiday menu email they sent that requested feedback, Finale will also soon roll-out Constant Contact’s ListenUp! online survey tool in order to obtain even more valuable feedback from customers. “No matter how successful a restaurant is, having the time and budget for a successful marketing campaign is difficult. Advertising costs too much money and it doesn’t guarantee that guests will come to your wine dinner. And your publicist can’t guarantee that the local paper will write about your event either,” said Moore. “For us, we have been successful at filling the room on a Monday night with clear and simple email marketing through Constant Contact. And it only costs us a small monthly fee.”

Overall, Constant Contact’s small business management software has been instrumental in helping Finale execute successful marketing campaigns, while nurturing a loyal and engaged customer base.

This article has highlighted many examples of how small business management software in a variety of industries has helped companies around the world compete more effectively in the marketplace. As small businesses grow into larger companies, and their needs require greater levels of support, many small business management software vendors have begun to provide solutions to address those specific needs and have greatly added value to enhance small-business operations across the globe.

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Quality management principles: The foundation for success

As the business world continues to navigate uncharted waters, companies and organizations of every size face unprecedented pressure. To thrive, they must consistently deliver exceptional quality and customer experience. That means striking a delicate balance: delivering excellence alongside the pursuit of operational efficiency.

To do this, they must be able to lean on a rock-solid foundation, with core principles for quality management built into their processes and culture at every level. These principles enable continual improvement for the benefit of the organization, its people, its stakeholders and its customers.

This article explores how quality management principles can help businesses large and small to:

• Elevate their ambition
• Encourage people at every level of the organization to strive for excellence in their work
• Meet internationally recognized principles of quality management – such as those defined in ISO 9000

Table of contents

What are quality management principles.

Embedded at the core of any quality management system (QMS), quality management principles (or QMPs) are a set of universally applicable principles , distilled from years of theoretical development and practical application. Their structured approach provides guidance for organizations to define objectives, establish processes and develop systems to manage quality.

Adaptable and agile, they aren’t only applicable to particular industries, but instead offer broad applicability and relevance to any organization committed to process excellence. They are as beneficial to the manufacturing and services industries as to non-profit organizations, the public sector and government agencies.

The seven principles of quality management

Developed and updated by ISO/TC 176, ISO’s dedicated group of quality experts, the following core principles of quality management are designed to be used as a guiding foundation to support performance improvement for all organizations.

It is important to note that there is no priority order to the following list. The relevance of each quality principle will vary from one organization to another and can be expected to change or adjust over time, as the journey of an organization evolves.

• Customer focus : At the heart of quality management is the core aim of meeting customer requirements and striving to exceed the public’s expectations.
• Leadership : Successful leaders establish a unified sense of purpose and direction. They continuously create the optimal conditions in which employees flourish, gaining motivation and professional satisfaction in the pursuit of quality objectives.
• Engagement : Inspiring and empowering people at all levels is essential to the value delivery process.
• Process approach : A well-structured, coherent system is an effective container in which consistent and predictable results can be effectively and efficiently achieved.
• Improvement : A hallmark of successful organizations is a continuous dedication to improvement, from product or service quality to meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations. Such a commitment is an important driver of sustained growth.
• Evidence-based decision making : Reliable data analysis and informed, strategic decision making enhance the chances of achieving desired outcomes.
• Relationship management : The process of building strong, clear and mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders and interested parties lays the foundations of sustained success.

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Why are QMS principles important?

The cornerstones of building and sustaining excellence, QMPs are essential for several reasons:

• To establish a quality management culture. Driving quality mindsets empowers every member of the business to understand, value and contribute to the pursuit of quality.
• To foster consistency. Applying quality principles across an organization promotes consistency in product design, development and delivery. This builds customer trust and public engagement.
• To facilitate continuous improvement. Highlighting areas for ongoing improvement helps an organization stay relevant in an increasingly competitive global landscape.
• To promote customer orientation. Translating quality into increased loyalty and market growth turns satisfied customers into brand advocates.
• To encourage team engagement. Motivating people across all sectors to achieve their highest quality work results in greater workplace satisfaction, team spirit, productivity and staff retention.
• To reduce risks. Proactively identifying potential problems early limits the likelihood of costly mistakes, customer dissatisfaction and reputational damage.
• To support competitiveness. Cementing a quality foundation that strengthens an organization’s competitive positioning. This, ultimately, supports the delivery of high-quality products or services.

How should organizations embed QMS principles in their processes?

ISO’s quality management principles are set in place to help organizations develop high-quality products and services that are safe and effective. The QMS principles found in ISO 9000 have been designed to be adaptable and easily tailored to the unique blueprint and challenges of each organization. While the process of integration will differ, they are applicable to organizations of all sizes and types, across different cultures, locations and social conditions.

As the world’s top quality management standard, ISO 9001 describes the basic requirements of a quality management system. Its QMS requirements include a quality manual, quality objectives, organizational structure and responsibility, data management, internal processes, customer satisfaction, improvement opportunities, and quality instruments for measuring progress. It’s about building a solid foundation that allows all processes to come together to ensure quality across a whole organization.

Although adopting QMPs requires an investment of time, effort and discipline, the returns are substantial. They include enhanced performance, heightened customer satisfaction and market success. By committing to these principles, organizations establish a culture of quality that not only improves their products and services, but simultaneously enhances their customer base and safeguards their reputation.

In a world facing global supply chain issues, quality management is a cornerstone of success. It assures customers that even during times where external disruptions are possible, it is safe to invest their trust in a given product or service. The delivery of exceptional quality requires effective and empowered leadership, high employee engagement and satisfaction, enhanced relationship management and resilient decision making.

ISO 9001  Quality management systems

The road to excellence

By integrating established and recognized quality management principles in the very fabric of an organization, leaders are building a sturdy and resilient foundation that supports the development of high-quality outputs, integrity and reputational excellence.

As a long-established set of principles, QMPs hold timeless value. They serve as a trustworthy roadmap in a global marketplace beset with challenges, lighting the way for organizations committed to enhancing their quality management culture and achieving exceptional outcomes. Ultimately, though, they equip organizations with the agility to respond to customers’ needs, foster innovation, outpace the competition, and secure a leadership role in the market.

• Quality management principles: The foundation …

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You can set up most retirement accounts through employers, but you'll also be able to open and manage your retirement accounts.

Best Retirement Plans

The primary types of retirement accounts are:

• Traditional IRAs : a tax-advantaged savings account that lets your funds grow tax-deferred
• Roth IRAs : a tax-advantaged savings account of after-tax funds (money that you've already paid taxes on)
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• Rollover IRAs: funds moved over from a former employer 401(k) plan into an IRA
• 401(k) plans : traditional or Roth, typically offered by for-profit employers
• 403(b) plans : available to most non-profit employees
• 457(b) plans: reserved for government employees
• Thrift savings plans : reserved for government employees

Additional individual retirement accounts include nondeductible IRAs or self-directed IRAs (more on that below). Investors also have the option to invest in precious metals with gold IRAs and silver IRAs. The best gold IRAs offer liquidity, low spread fees, account flexibility, low account minimums, and human advisor access. 

You can't use the traditional 401(k) account if you're self-employed. Instead, you'll have to pick a solo 401(k) or SEP IRA (you can supplement either account with an IRA if you choose).

Here are the options for small business retirement accounts:

SIMPLE IRAs

• Payroll deduction IRAs

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Best Retirement Plans for Individuals

One of the most appealing components of independent retirement plans like IRAs is that you can open one as long as you've got taxable (earned) income. And even if you have an employer-sponsored retirement account, you can usually set up a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and other independent retirement accounts.

Traditional vs. Roth IRAs

Traditional IRAs let you save with pre-tax contributions, while Roth IRAs allow you to contribute after-tax dollars toward your retirement savings. As long as you're eligible (more on that below), experts generally recommend Roth IRAs for early-career workers who expect to be in a higher tax bracket in the future when they're making withdrawals  and traditional IRAs for higher-income workers who could use a tax deduction today.

Traditional and Roth IRAs share the same contribution and catch-up contribution limits. The 2024 contribution limit is $7,000, with up to $1,000 in catch-up contributions. The biggest difference between the two is tax advantages and income limitations. The Roth IRA limits who can contribute and how much.

For Roth IRAs, single filers can only contribute the maximum amount in 2024 if their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than 146,000. You can still contribute less if you earn a little more, though.

You can find your MAGI by calculating your gross (before tax) income and subtracting any tax deductions from that amount to get your adjusted gross income (AGI). To calculate MAGI, you'll need to add back certain allowable deductions.

Allowable deductions that can be added back include passive income or losses, deductions for IRA contributions, rental losses, deductions for student loan interest, and more. Alternatively, you can ask your accountant or use an online calculator like the one below:

Married couples must earn less than $230,000 annually to contribute the full amount in 2024.

You don't have to worry about income limits for traditional IRAs. However, if a retirement plan at work covers you or your spouse, you must consider the income limits for tax-deductible contributions. Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s are funded with pre-tax dollars.

For instance, in 2023, single filers can deduct the maximum contribution amount ($6,500) if they make $73,000 a year or less. Married couples filing jointly can also make full deductions if they make $116,000 a year or less. The amount you can deduct phases out or decreases if your income exceeds these limits.

While you can contribute to a 401(k) and traditional IRA simultaneously, your ability to take a tax deduction for these contributions — across both accounts, combined — ends once you hit those income limits.

Spousal IRAs

There's also an option for married couples where one spouse doesn't earn taxable income. Spousal IRAs allow both spouses to contribute to a separate IRA as long as one spouse is employed and earns taxable income. This account allows the nonworking spouse to fund their own IRA. 

In 2024, each can contribute $7,000 (or $8,000 if they are 50 or older) for up to $16,000 per year.

Rollover IRAs

The best rollover IRAs let you convert your existing employer-sponsored retirement plan into an IRA, something experts generally recommend doing when you leave a job for a few reasons — primarily because you have more control over the investment options in an IRA than in a 401(k), and also because it's easier to consolidate your accounts for record-keeping.

Many online brokerages and financial institutions offer rollover IRAs; some will even pay you to transfer your employer-sponsored plan to the IRA.

Self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs)

You can fund a self-directed IRA using traditional or Roth contributions (meaning the $6,500 and $7,500 contribution limits in 2023 are the same across all three — the 2024 limits of $7,000 and $8,000 are the same, too). But the difference between these accounts is mainly one of account custody and investment choices.

Unlike traditional and Roth IRAs, the IRS requires that all SDIRAs have a certified custodian or trustee who manages the account. These third parties handle the setup process and administrative duties of the IRA (e.g., executing transactions and assisting with account maintenance).

SDIRAs also give investors access to a wider range of investment options. With traditional and Roth IRAs, you're limited to mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, and other traditional investments. But, SDIRAs allow you to invest in alternative assets like real estate, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies .

Nondeductible IRAs

Nondeductible IRAs are great for those who don't meet the income limits of Roth IRAs or make too much to qualify for a traditional IRA. For example, suppose you're filing taxes as an individual. In that case, you won't be eligible for a Roth IRA (even discounted contributions) if your MAGI exceeds $161,000 in 2023 or $240,000 for a married couple filing jointly.

Contributions for these accounts aren't tax deductible, meaning you'll be funding your IRA with post-tax dollars like a Roth IRA. The difference is that you'll still have to pay taxes on any earnings or interest from the account once you withdraw at age 59 and a half.

Best Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans

Employer-sponsored retirement plans are savings vehicles your employer provides. There are several types — including 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s, and thrift savings plans — and in some instances, your employer will match a percentage of your annual contributions.

For-profit companies generally offer these plans, and most companies give you the choice between two versions: the traditional 401(k) or the Roth 401(k). Traditional 401(k)s grow with pre-tax dollars, but Roth 401(k)s rely on after-tax contributions, just like they do with IRAs.

This means that you can either choose to pay taxes on your contributions upfront or take a potential tax deduction now and pay them later when you withdraw funds from your retirement account.

You can contribute up to $23,000 in 2024, and individuals age 50 and older can contribute additional "catch-up" contributions of $7,500. The maximum limit for employer and employee contributions is $69,000 in 2024. Therefore, the maximum amount those 50 and older can contribute is $76,500 in 2024.

Many employers also offer a 401(k) match. This means that your company may match a certain percentage of your annual contributions. These matches vary for each employer, ranging from 3% to 6%. For instance, if you make $50,000 per year, and your company matches 50% of your 401(k) contributions up to 5% of your salary, your employer can contribute up to $1,250 a year.

However, if you're employer matched 100% of your contributions up to 5%, you'd earn the other $1,250 a year, resulting in a $2,500 total from your employer. 

No matter how big the match, experts generally consider it to be "free money" and recommend taking advantage wherever possible, even if you only contribute enough to get the full match and nothing more.

Also referred to as tax-sheltered annuities, these retirement plans are typically designated for employees of public schools, 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, churches, and other non-profit companies. Like 401(k)s, 403(b)s may include employer matches, pre-tax contribution options, and after-tax (Roth) contribution options.

If you're under 50, you can contribute up to $23,000 in 2024. Those aged 50 and above can contribute an additional $7,500.

In addition to pre-tax and after-tax contributions, you can also contribute to your 403(b) by allowing your employer to withhold money from your paycheck to deposit into the account.

State and local governments and certain tax-exempt organizations can open 457(b)s for their employees. As 403(b)s, you can also contribute to these accounts by asking your employer to set aside portions of your paychecks for your retirement plan. And in some cases, employers may allow you to make Roth — or after-tax — contributions. 

Like 401(k)s and 403(b)s, the catch-up contribution limit is $7,500.

Thrift Savings Plans

Thrift savings plans (TSPs) are retirement accounts for federal and uniformed services employees. Like 401(k)s, these plans let you contribute either pre- or post-tax dollars. But, unlike many 401(k) employer matches, most TSPs offer a full 5% contribution match. This means your employer will match your contributions up to 5% of your salary.

The annual contribution limit for 2024 is 23,000. The catch-up contribution limit is $7,500. You can make up to $69,000 in 2024.

Best Retirement Plans For Self-Employed Individuals and Small Businesses

If you're self-employed or a business owner with fewer than 100 employees, you'll have multiple retirement savings plans to choose from. Each plan has unique contribution limits and eligibility requirements. Take a closer look at your options below.

Solo 401(k)s

Solo 401(k)s are an option for self-employed individuals or business owners without full-time employees. Self-employed individuals can only contribute in one capacity, but business owners can contribute as both an employer and employee (and spouses of business owners may be able to contribute as well), meaning they can contribute twice as much. You can also make pre- or post-tax (Roth) contributions to your account. 

In 2024, the limit increases to $23,000 with up to $7,500 in catch-up contributions. You can earn up to $69,000 in annual contributions. Those aged 50 or older can contribute $76,500.

Simplified employee pension (SEP) IRAs are retirement vehicles managed by small businesses or self-employed individuals. According to the IRS, employees (including self-employed individuals) are eligible if they meet the following requirements:

• Have reached age 21
• Have worked for the employer in at least three of the last five years
• Received at least $750 in compensation in 2022

SEP IRAs also require that all contributions to the plan are 100% vested. This means that each employee holds immediate and complete ownership over all contributions to their account, including any employer match.

Vesting protects employees against financial loss. For instance, according to the IRS, an employer can forfeit amounts of an employee's account balance that isn't fully vested if that employee hasn't worked more than 500 hours in a year for five years.

You can contribute up to $69,000 or 25% of your employee's compensation in 2024. However, unlike the solo 401(k), you can't make Roth (after-tax) or catch-up contributions.

SIMPLE IRAs are available to self-employed individuals or small businesses with no more than 100 employees. According to the IRS, these retirement plans require employers to match each employee's contributions on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to 3% of the employee's salary.

To qualify, employees (and self-employed individuals) must have made at least $5,000 in the last two years and expect to receive that same amount during the current year. But once you meet this requirement, you'll be 100% vested in all your SIMPLE IRA's earnings, meaning you have immediate ownership over both your and your employer's contributions. 

Unlike other retirement plans, SIMPLE IRAs and SEP IRAs give you total control over your retirement account. If you work for a small business that offers either of these plans, this prevents your employer from taking back its contributions or an employer match in the event of your leave or termination.

Employees can contribute up to $16,000 in 2024. You can also add on a catch-up contribution of $3,500 if you're 50 or older.

Payroll Deduction IRAs

There's an even simpler way for small businesses to set up IRAs for employees. With payroll deduction IRAs, businesses delegate most of the hard work to banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Self-employed people can also set up these retirement accounts.

In other words, employees can set up payroll deductions with those institutions to fund their IRAs. But you'll first need to consult your employer to determine which institutions it has partnered with. These accounts are generally best for employees who don't have access to other employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s and 457(b)s.

For 2024, you can contribute up to $7,000 in annual contributions and up to $1,000 in annual catch-up contributions for employees aged 50 or older. This means you can set aside up to $8,000 if you're at least 50 years old. 

Retirement Plans — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are better retirement plans than a 401(k) for people looking for lower account fees, more investment options, and increased flexibility. If you don't have access to an employer-sponsored 401(k) or similar plan, then an IRA may be a good option. 

IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k) plans and 403(b)s are the best ways to save for retirement. The best retirement plan for you depends on the kind of tax advantages you're looking for (pre-tax benefits or after-tax benefits) and whether or not you have access to an employer-sponsored plan with matching benefits. 

$200 a month can be a good amount to contribute toward your retirement, depending on your current age and how long you have until you reach retirement age. You may not be able to contribute much, but contributing a little toward retirement is better than not contributing at all due to compound interest. 

Why You Should Trust Us: Our Expert Panel For The Best Retirement Plans

We interviewed the following investing experts to see what they had to say about retirement savings plans. 

• Sandra Cho , RIA, wealth manager, and CEO of Pointwealth Capital Management
• Tessa Campbell , Investment and retirement reporter at Personal Finance Insider

What are the advantages/disadvantages of investing in a retirement plan?

Sandra Cho:

"The main advantage is the tax implications of the account. Depending on the account, taxes will either be deferred or not included at all. For employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s, contributions to the plan are made with pre-tax funds, and the account grows tax-deferred. Taxes are then owed upon withdrawal.

"Roth IRAs, on the other hand, are contributed to with post-tax funds but grow tax-free. Both should be included in an investor's portfolio. Another advantage is that 401(k)s often have an employer matching component. That is, an employer will match your contributions up to a certain point (usually around 3% of your salary). 

"The disadvantage is that retirement accounts have a max contribution limit. Another disadvantage is that these funds cannot be used until age 59 1/2. For younger investors, that can be a long time wait."

Tessa Campbell: 

"Tax benefits and compound interest are two of the major advantages of contribution to a retirement savings plan like a 401(k) or individual IRA. Depending on the kind of plan you open (traditional or Roth), you can benefit from contributions after- or post-tax dollars. In addition, some 401(k) plans are eligible for employer-sponsored matches, which are essentially free money.

"The disadvantage of a retirement plan is that you won't be able to access the funds in your account penalty-free until you're at least 59 1/2 years old. Unless there are no other options, early withdraws from a retirement savings plan isn't advised."

Who should consider opening a retirement plan?

"Every individual should be investing through a retirement plan if they have the financial capability to. At the minimum, investors should try to contribute up to the matching amount for their 401(k) and the maximum amount for their Roth IRA. The growth in these funds compounds over time, helping to enhance the long-term return."

Tessa Campbell:

"I can't think of a single person that wouldn't benefit from a retirement savings plan, other than maybe someone that is already well into retirement. Although some younger individuals don't feel the need to start contributing quite yet, it's actually better to open an account as soon as possible and take advantage of compound interest growth capabilities."

Is there any advice you'd offer someone who's considering opening a retirement plan?

"I would advise them to work with a financial advisor or trusted professional. This will give them insight into where they should be investing their money, whether that be a 401(k), Roth IRA, or another vehicle. There are plenty of people and sources out there who provide important information and can help you create a strong financial future."

"Don't contribute huge portions of your salary if it doesn't make sense with your budget. While contributing to a retirement savings plan is important, you must still afford your monthly expenses and pay down an existing debt. If you're having trouble establishing a reasonable budget, consult a financial advisor or planner for professional help."

Which Retirement Plan is Best For You?

If you're not a small-business owner or self-employed individual, the best retirement plan for you usually depends on your type of employer, marital status, and short- and long-term savings goals. If you're employed, you'll still only have so much control since your employer determines which types of plans you can open.

However, for most employer-sponsored retirement accounts, you can decide whether to make pre-tax or post-tax (Roth) contributions to your account. Roth contributions are best for those who expect to pay more in taxes as they age, but you should consider pre-tax contributions if you don't mind paying taxes when you withdraw money from your account in retirement.

You can boost your retirement savings even more by opening a separate IRA in addition to your employer-sponsored plan (you can still save toward retirement with an IRA if you're unemployed).

Self-employed individuals and small business owners also have a range of options. Solo 401(k)s and SEP IRAs are best for self-employed individuals and small businesses looking to maximize their annual retirement savings (you can make up to $66,000 in total annual contributions or $69,000 in 2024, excluding the catch-up contribution). SIMPLE IRAs and payroll deduction IRAs are better options for small businesses that don't mind offering employees smaller annual contribution limits.

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Boeing C.E.O. to Step Down in Major Reshuffle at Embattled Plane Maker

The company’s chief executive, Dave Calhoun, said he would leave at the end of the year. Stan Deal, Boeing’s head of commercial planes, departed immediately.

By Sydney Ember and Niraj Chokshi

Boeing abruptly said on Monday that it was overhauling its leadership amid its most significant safety crisis in years, announcing sweeping changes that included the departure of its chief executive, Dave Calhoun, at the end of the year.

The aircraft maker has been under mounting pressure from regulators, airlines and passengers as the company struggled to respond to the fallout from an incident in early January in which a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane midair during an Alaska Airlines flight.

The incident has roiled the company, considered by many to be a prized American institution, and renewed concerns about its commitment to safety and quality five years after two crashes of 737 Max 8 planes killed a total of nearly 350 people.

In addition to Mr. Calhoun’s departure, Boeing announced that Stan Deal, the head of the division that makes planes for airlines and other commercial customers, would retire immediately. He will be replaced by Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer, the company said in a statement .

Boeing also said that its chairman, Larry Kellner, would not stand for re-election. This weekend, the board elected Steve Mollenkopf, an electrical engineer by training and the former chief executive of Qualcomm, as its new chairman. In that role, he will lead the process of choosing Boeing’s next chief executive.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the company, grounded 737 Max 9 planes across the United States after the Alaska Airlines incident. When the agency cleared the planes to fly again in late January, it also imposed limits on Boeing’s planned production increase of Max planes, foiling the company’s latest attempt to better compete with its European rival Airbus.

A recent F.A.A. audit of Boeing’s Max production found dozens of lapses. The agency gave Boeing 90 days, or until about late May, to address its issues. The Justice Department has also reached out to passengers of the Alaska Airlines flight, informing them that they may be a “possible victim of a crime,” according to a copy of one such notification.

Airline leaders publicly expressed frustration with the manufacturer after the incident. The chief executives of several major carriers in the United States were set to meet with Mr. Kellner and other board members this week, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans. Mr. Calhoun was supportive of those meetings but was not going to attend them. Mr. Mollenkopf will now participate.

Ahead of those meetings, Boeing’s board met on a conference call this weekend to approve the leadership changes announced on Monday, according to the person.

In a note to employees on Monday announcing the changes, Mr. Calhoun said that the Jan. 5 incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 “was a watershed moment for Boeing.”

“The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,” he said.

Discussions about changes to the company’s leadership have been going on for some time. Late last year , the company appointed Ms. Pope its chief operating officer, a move that was seen as setting her up to take over for Mr. Calhoun in a few years.

Ms. Pope has had a relatively rapid ascent in recent years. In early 2022, she was promoted from her role as chief financial officer of the commercial planes division to head of Boeing Global Services, which provides aftermarket support to customers.

Mr. Calhoun said in an interview with CNBC that he would be a part of the search for his successor. He also characterized all of the leadership changes, including his own, as “very deliberate.”

“Why now? I’ve entered my fifth year,” he said. “At the end of this year, I’ll be close to 68 years old. I’ve always said to the board — and the board has been very prepared — I would give them plenty of notice so that they could understand and plan succession.”

The announcement Monday came ahead of the company’s annual meeting, expected in May, during which board members are elected.

Boeing’s board appointed Mr. Calhoun chief executive after firing his predecessor, Dennis A. Muilenburg, who had led the company during the 2018 and 2019 crashes. Mr. Calhoun, who assumed the company’s leadership in January 2020, had been a member of its board since 2009. He spent much of his career at General Electric, where he was once vice chairman and headed the company’s infrastructure division. When he assumed the leadership of Boeing, he told employees that the company would “do better.”

His departure is all the more surprising because Boeing’s board in 2021 raised the mandatory retirement age for the chief executive to 70, from 65, to allow Mr. Calhoun to stay in the job until April 2028.

The leadership shake-up raises urgent questions about Boeing’s succession planning. Ms. Pope now has a big job trying to fix the commercial planes division. Analysts have said the company may look to bring on a top executive from outside, but the number of people with the experience needed to lead an engineering and manufacturing company with more than 170,000 employees is extremely limited.

Several Wall Street analysts welcomed the changes and the plan to keep Mr. Calhoun on until the end of the year. His departure, along with that of Mr. Deal, was “ultimately necessary,” Nicolas Owens, an analyst at Morningstar, said in a note to clients on Monday.

“For key Boeing stakeholders, including customers, investors, directors, and likely the machinists’ union, their tenure became too closely associated with the successive manufacturing flaws uncovered in the 737 Max and 787 lineups since 2019 for their mantle of leadership to survive into the next chapter,” he said.

Since the door plug incident in January, Mr. Calhoun has repeatedly affirmed the company’s commitment to quality and safety. But pressure continued to rise on him and Boeing. The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report about the incident said that four bolts that were supposed to hold the door plug in place appeared to be missing before it came off the plane. It said the bolts were removed at a Boeing factory in Renton, Wash., where the 737 Max is built, so that damaged rivets could be repaired.

The company’s announcement in February that the head of its 737 Max program was leaving the company did little to address the growing criticism. Even some travelers have become wary of the company’s most popular series of planes, the 737 Max. After the Alaska Airlines mishap, Kayak, the flight booking service, said it saw a noticeable rise in users filtering out flights that were scheduled to be on 737 Max planes.

One union leader, who represents more than 19,000 engineers, scientists, pilots and other employees at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, said the plane maker’s management needed to make more far-reaching changes to regain its credibility.

“The problems in Boeing’s executive suite are systemic,” the union leader, Ray Goforth, the executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, said in a statement. “Nothing is going to change for the better without company leadership acknowledging their failures and thoroughly committing to fixing them.”

Southwest Airlines, a big Boeing customer that flies only the company’s planes, said in a statement that it was “committed to working with Boeing’s new leadership team to ensure that each airplane meets the highest quality and safety standards.” Delta Air Lines and United Airlines issued similar statements.

Boeing’s stock was up about 1 percent on Monday afternoon after the company announced its management changes.

Do you work with Boeing?

We want to hear from people who have experience working at or with Boeing to better understand what we should be covering. We may use your contact information to follow up with you. We will not publish any part of your submission without your permission. If you have information that you want to share with The New York Times using tools that can help protect your anonymity, visit: https://www.nytimes.com/tips.

Sydney Ember is a Times business reporter, covering the U.S. economy and the labor market. More about Sydney Ember

Niraj Chokshi writes about aviation, rail and other transportation industries. More about Niraj Chokshi

Boeing: A Company in Turmoil

Boeing is weathering a particularly difficult period: two fatal crashes, a loose panel that blew out during a flight, quality concerns and production slowdowns..

‘Shortcuts Everywhere’: Quality issues have plagued Boeing  even after two fatal crashes. Many employees blame the company’s focus on increasing production speed .

A Major Reshuffle : Boeing said that it was overhauling its leadership  amid its most significant safety crisis in years, announcing sweeping changes that included the departure of its chief executive, Dave Calhoun , at the end of the year.

United’s Planes : An engine fire sparked by plastic packaging wrap, a tire lost shortly after takeoff and a plane veering off the runway: These are among several recent incidents that have occurred  on Boeing flights operated by United Airlines.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282: After a section of a plane blew out  10 minutes after it took off , there was increased scrutiny  on the plane’s manufacturer: Boeing . The Justice Department has since launched a criminal investigation .

Quality Control Issues: An audit that was initiated by the Federal Aviation Administration after the Alaska Airlines incident found dozens of problems  throughout Boeing’s manufacturing process and one of its key suppliers.

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