A business plan is a strategic document that describes your business. It explains what your organisation does, who it serves, how it will generate income, and how it intends to grow. From market research and competitor insights to financial forecasts and marketing strategies, a strong business plan turns ideas into an actionable plan for success.

This article explains what a good business plan should look like, how to create a business plan, and even provides business proposal templates. Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey or fine-tuning an existing business, we’ve got you covered – with practical advice, useful tips, and smart tools.

Turn your idea from concept to company with Adobe Express.

Key takeaways.

• A business plan is a document that summarises your company’s objectives and your strategy to reach them.

• While often used to attract investors, a business plan also helps you stay focused on your company’s goals.

• Download a free business plan template from Adobe Express to get started.

What is a business plan?

A business plan outlines your company’s objectives and how you plan to achieve them. It spans everything from overall business strategy to company structure. It’s also a good opportunity to highlight your unique selling propositions (USPs) and how you’ll stand out from competitors.

In the UK, business plans are often used to secure funding or attract investors. But their value extends beyond that: when you make a business plan, you also create it for yourself. A clear business plan can help you refine your offering, avoid costly mistakes, and stay focused on your business’s growth.

Why is a business plan important?

Whether you’re launching a start-up, expanding your services, or simply testing a new direction, a business plan acts as your roadmap to success. Writing a business plan isn’t just about convincing others – it’s a powerful tool to sharpen your own vision. It can help to:

• Provide structure. A business plan clearly defines your strategies and the steps you need to take to reach your goals.

• Highlight strengths and weaknesses. Creating a business plan can help shine a light on any areas of your business that you may need to improve – or prioritise.

• Understand your audience. Prior research before writing a business plan helps increase your knowledge of your target audience and market landscape, so you can better meet customer expectations.

What should a business plan include?

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to a business plan or business proposal template. Your business plan will differ depending on your industry, your goals, or even the size of your business. For example, a business plan example for a one-person dog walking business will look different to a clothing brand with an online shop.

But there are some key areas that every business plan should include – it should provide a clear picture of your business idea, how it will operate, and how it will succeed.

Here are the core sections to consider when writing a business plan:

• Executive summary: This is how you start your business plan. It’s a concise overview of your business, your mission, and what the business proposal will cover.

• Business description: This includes an introduction to your business idea, including its purpose, structure, and unique value.

• Market analysis: In this section of your business plan, you give an outline of your target market, customer profile, and competitors.

• Products or services: This section includes a description of what you’re selling, the problem the product or service solves, and what makes it stand out.

• Marketing and sales strategy: This section describes your marketing plan and how you plan to attract and retain customers.

• Operations and management: This section outlines how your business will operate on a day-to-day basis, including key roles, suppliers, tools, or processes.

• Finances: Forecasts for costs, revenue, and profit, plus funding needs if you’re seeking investment.

• Appendices: Add optional documents, like research, licences, visuals, or product mock-ups.

Now that you have a good overview of everything your business plan should cover, we’ll dive into more detail about how you can create these sections in your plan.NEW H3: How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan will depend on the complexity of your business, as well as the audience and specific situation you’re creating the plan for. For example, whether it’s an internal or external version or if you’re presenting to investors. In most cases, business plans range from 15 to 35 pages.

Discover free business plan examples with Adobe Express.

Download one of our free business plan templates.

How to create a business plan: Step-by-step.

In a well-written business plan, every section should tell a story. This story follows where your business came from, where it’s (hopefully) going, and how you plan to get there. Whether you’re pitching to investors, applying for funding, or simply clarifying your own thinking, the content of your business plan will determine how convincing it is.

Here’s how to approach each section of your business plan:

1. Part 1: Executive summary.

The executive summary may appear at the beginning, but it’s not actually your first step when writing a business plan. In fact, you may find it easier to write it last.

It’s the elevator pitch version of your plan, and your opportunity to condense key takeaways into just one page. Concisely summarise what you do, who you serve, your key objectives, and what makes you stand out.

Your goal here is to set the scene with the most important information at a glance, to spark interest and invite the reader to explore the rest of your business plan.

2. Part 2: Business description.

Next, explain your business idea. Start with the basics:

• Your business’s name.

• Location.

• Legal structure.

• What it offers.

Then, you can go into further detail about the inspiration behind your business, your values, and long-term goals. It’s your chance to give the reader a sense of the bigger picture. When writing your business plan, be careful to keep the tone balanced between factual and inspirational.

3. Part 3: Market analysis.

Here you can really show you’ve done your homework and demonstrate your knowledge of your industry, competition and target market. You’ll want to:

• Describe the industry you’re entering, who your customers are, and how your competitors operate.

• Use reliable sources and data wherever possible (and don’t forget to cite the sources).

• Define your target audience in detail: demographics, behaviours, preferences, and pain points.

• Explain where your business fits in and how you’ll position yourself to meet your target audience’s demands.

A thorough market analysis builds credibility and sets the stage for your strategy. Plus, by taking an in-depth look at the market, you can ensure your business really has a shot at being successful.

4. Part 4: Business goals.

In this area of your business plan, you may decide to include your short and long-term objectives and your strategy to reach them. This can help keep it focused and reassure your audience that you have a carefully thought-out plan.

5. Part 5: Products or services.

Next, describe what you’re offering. Make your descriptions easy to understand – even for someone outside your industry.

It’s important to go beyond the technical or general features and explain your benefit to the customer. What problem does your product or service solve? What needs does it meet? How is it better than the competition? You can also include pricing models, lifecycle information, or intellectual property considerations here.

6. Part 6: Marketing and sales.

When writing your business plan, you’ll need to consider marketing, advertising and sales. This part of your plan outlines how people will find your business and how they’ll buy from it.

Follow these suggestions to nail the marketing and sales portion of your business plan:

• Be specific. Describe how you’re intending to sell your product or service (for example, a storefront, your own online shop, or other platforms) and which marketing channels you’ll use (for example, digital, social media, email newsletter, print, or events).

• Describe how you came to these decisions. What led you to this choice? Show that you understand your customer’s journey and explain how you’ll guide them through it.

• Avoid being vague. Go into as much detail as possible and tell the readers how and why your marketing and sales activities support your goals.

7. Part 7: Operations and management.

A business plan is quite theoretical – but this doesn’t mean it should miss out practical aspects of running a business.

In this section, outline how your business will operate – from sourcing and production to delivery and customer service.

Introduce key team members (current or future), their roles, and what makes them suitable. If you’re a solo founder, show how you’ll manage the workload or where you’ll outsource. Mention tools, software, suppliers or partners that are essential to your workflow to reassure your audience that you’ve thought through the logistics.

8. Part 8: Finances.

Numbers can make or break a business plan. This section should present realistic financial projections, backed by assumptions you can justify. Include cash flow forecasts, profit and loss estimates, and break-even analysis.

If you’re applying for funding, be clear on how much you need, how you’ll use it, and how you plan to repay it (if applicable). Avoid being overly optimistic and allow yourself to think critically – investors will expect transparency. A clear financial plan shows that your business model is sustainable and realistic.

9. Part 9: Appendices.

Use this final section to include extra materials or documents that may be helpful. These could be product images, testimonials, CVs of team members, licences, or more detailed data sets.

Don’t treat the appendices as a dumping ground. Only include what strengthens your business plan and refer to these documents in the relevant sections, so they add value in context.

10. Part 10: Review, review, review.

Once you’ve finished creating your business plan, ensure you leave enough time to check the accuracy and review for any typos. This is an important business document, and it’s crucial to get off on the right foot with potential investors or other stakeholders. The last thing you want are silly errors or typos bringing down the quality of your hard work.

Creating a business plan: Final tips.

Now we’ve covered all the areas you need to include in your business plan, here are some general tips to keep in mind:

Know your stuff.

This is your chance to highlight why stakeholders should believe in your business idea. You need to be able to demonstrate how well you understand your audience, market and competitors. You also need to be very clear on the finances and how your business will make a profit.

Simple is best.

While your business plan should be interesting and engaging, leave the artistry to your marketing materials and content strategy. Use simple and jargon-free language to ensure that your plan is easy to read and understand.

Get feedback.

Once you’ve finished writing your business plan, it may be helpful to send it to a colleague or peer to review. A fresh set of eyes may be able to identify areas that you’ve missed or perhaps aren’t as compelling as others.

Use software to do the heavy lifting.

Start on the right foot by using creative software that can provide editable business plans and business model templates. Save time starting from scratch and focus your energy on researching your industry inside and out. Adobe Express offers professional templates to transform your business idea from concept to creation.

How to bring your business plan to life.

Design a professional business plan with Adobe Express.

With Adobe Express, you can transform your business plan from a basic document to an eye-catching asset. Whether you’re pitching your business plan to potential investors or mapping out your next venture, browse our business plan templates, business proposal templates and business model templates to help you add a whole new layer of professionalism.

Why not supplement your plan with pitch decks and other branded documents? With Adobe Express, you can create and apply a brand kit with ease, so you don’t have to waste your time wrestling with design tools.

You might also like...

View all