How to write a business plan.
Discover what a business plan is and how to write one with Adobe Express.

Starting a business can be an exciting and challenging time – which is why a business plan is important to set timelines and expectations and keep you to your aims.
Writing a business plan is one of the first steps in launching your venture. It can inform your strategy, set goals and help you pitch your ideas to potential investors.
In this guide, we’ll help you understand what a business plan is, what to include, and how to write one with the help of Adobe Express’ free tools and resources.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document that outlines your business aspirations and your roadmap to achieve them. You might need to write a business plan when starting a new business, scaling your business or even during a rebrand.
A business plan captures everything you need to know about the direction your business is moving in. It includes everything from your initial ideas to your ultimate goals, both short and long-term. It also features your financial details, including budgets and projected outcomes and gives a detailed overview of the business structure, as well as your marketing, sales and people management strategies.
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Why is a business plan important?
Before you learn how to write a business plan, knowing why having one is important can be helpful when describing your business and getting started on the right foot. Here are five benefits of writing a business plan:
- Helps you stay focused. When you start a business or pivot with a rebrand, new ideas can derail you. A business plan highlights your goals and plans to keep you on track.
- Gives you a clear structure and strategy for business pitches. When entering business pitches, potential clients, partners or investors will want to see a well-structured business plan with a clear strategy.
- Means you can identify potential pitfalls and positives. Laying out your strategies, ideas, and goals is invaluable for affirming your strengths and identifying potential areas for improvement to rectify them.
- Can set goals for growth and progress measurement. All business owners hope for growth, and knowing how to write a good business plan means you can cultivate a document that nurtures success and helps you measure improvement.
- Offers detailed insights into your industry. A business plan will also focus on the industry you will operate within. Detailed research and industry insights will help you better understand your competitors and customers.
What to include in a business plan.
So, what does a business plan look like? It can be an overwhelming question when you’re starting, but here are some key things you need to factor in, consider and include when you write a business plan:
- Executive summary. An executive summary is a simple and short overview of your business plan – like a one-pager.
- Company overview. Similar to the executive summary but focused on your business. This overview explains what you do and why and why it’s important.
- Competitive analysis. You’ll have done a lot of research into your industry, target consumers and competition – the competitive market analysis section of your business plan is where you’ll include this information.
- Business structure details. A look at the structure of your organisation – outline details of the people you have in each position to execute your plans.
- What you do. Do you sell products or offer services? Describe what you’re selling and explain why your customers will need or want it.
- Audience details. Carry out your customer segmentation by breaking down your target audience and categorising each into groups.
- Marketing strategy. Outline your sales plan and the strategy to market your business.
- Operational plans. An insight into how your organisation will run day-to-day, the logistics involved and how resources will be managed.
- Financial details. A detailed look into the business finances, including the funding you might need, your outgoings and a projection of your income.
How to write a business plan in 10 steps.
Learning how to write a good business plan is all in the detail – it’s about knowing what to include step-by-step to ensure it’s a comprehensive representation of your business, audience and goals. You can then use Adobe Express to turn your business plan into a presentation, or other format to share with the relevant stakeholders.
Take a look at the essential steps to follow to get to this stage:
1. Plan and write your executive summary.
A common way to write an executive summary for a business plan is to keep it efficient while offering a comprehensive overview of your business plan. It needs to clearly explain the business and business goals to anyone you present it to.
What you include will be unique to your business and circumstances, but a summary typically includes:
- Details of your business growth plan.
- A summary of your financials.
- A short overview of the business.
- A quick look at market analysis and where you fit.
2. Add in your company overview.
The company overview will swiftly follow your executive summary with an eye-catching summation of your business, what you do and why it’s important to you and your customers. You may wish to include:
- An overview of the products or services you offer.
- A look into the business – when it was founded, how many employees you have, etc.
- The consumer problem your business services satisfy.
3. Conduct a competitive analysis.
A detailed competitive analysis of your industry can help with a comprehensive understanding of the market and where your business services fit in the landscape. This section can work to highlight your expertise and show potential investors and partners your knowledge while underlining why they should come on board.
You may want to include details such as:
- All facets of your target market.
- Industry size and its expected growth.
- Competitor details – and how you stack up.
- Your expected market share.
- Regulations and how they may impact you/how you can adapt.
4. Clearly outline your business structure.
What a business plan looks like depends on each individual entity – and the same goes for your business structure. Your business success will depend on your people and your teams, no matter how good your product or service is, so you want to get this across when you write your business plan. Include:
- Business and management structure – and how it operates.
- The roles within your structure.
- Who your owners and shareholders are.
- Any open positions and your plans for future growth.
5. Explain what you do.
Establish your brand identity and tell the reader why your services or products are unique. Explain who and what your services serve, what problem they solve and why your business benefits the market and customers.
This section should also include the ins and outs of your operations, how you get to market and what you need. Depending on the product or service, you might also consider including timelines to market, patent details, improvement plans and details for third parties to get in touch.
6. Write out your customer segmentation.
Analyse your target audience and organise into categories to show who and what your services serve. Use this section to show how well you know your audience and understand its needs and pressure points. Your competitive analysis will help inform this section, so take advantage of all the data you’ve discovered to make this section shine.
7. Discuss your marketing and sales strategy.
How do you plan to market your business and ultimately sell your products and services to consumers? This section is your chance to lay out all your sales and marketing plans to show how you will succeed. You might wish to include:
- Where and how you will market your brand or services.
- Plans for contacting marketing sources.
- Marketing costs – including advertising, employing third-party help and software integration overheads.
- A full sales plan.
- Project and sales funnel timelines.
- Current sales figures and growth plans.
- How you will reach your target market and grow sales.
8. Explain operational plans.
Offering an insight into how the business will run day-to-day will help you stay true to your goals and aims while showing potential partners, suppliers and investors how organised your plans are. This section should include details of the resources you need to achieve your goals, the logistics that need to be involved and how the business’s resources will be managed.
9. Add in financial planning details.
A key aspect of why you need to write a business plan is providing details of your financial situation and future financial plans. You must outline your plans to ensure the business turns a profit and show how your strategies will help investors make a profit on their investments.
This section will clearly show the financial status of the business, how much support you currently have, how much you need and where financial backing could take the business. Consider including:
- Income statements.
- Financial documents – both current and historical.
- Income and cash flow details.
- Five-year financial projections.
- A full balance sheet.
- Expected return on investment, known as ROI.
10. Wrap up with a closing statement and appendix.
Ensure you tie loose ends together and highlight important information you want to underline. Give a full yet concise closing statement to wrap up your business plan with clarity. Then, include a well-organised appendix that includes supporting documents such as CVs, data charts, permits and contracts and important contact details.
Free editable business plan examples.
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Newest to Oldest
Oldest to Newest
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Good to know.
What does a business plan look like?
All plans follow a similar structure, but how a business plan looks overall will be determined by your organisation, structure and industry. You will include an executive summary, competitive and market analysis, details of your business and its structure and a financial summary.
If you want your business plan to be organised and eye-catching, check out the Adobe Express business plan templates for free design inspiration. You can then customise to fit your brand.
How long does it to take to write a business plan?
How long it takes you to write a business plan will depend on the details you wish to include. You will likely need to do time-consuming research to populate each section with comprehensive information. Research and the subsequent write-up could take a few days – but remember this document is essential to the management and growth of your business.
Is Adobe Express free?
Yes, our free plan offers many core features including thousands of templates, photo editing and effects, animation, and 5 GB of storage. See our pricing page for details and to compare plans.