business plan alternative names

300+ Business Name Ideas to Inspire You [+7 Brand Name Generators]

Published: March 11, 2024

Your ticket to standing out in a crowded market is having a business name that is unique, memorable, and attention-grabbing. To help you get started, I’ve put together a comprehensive list of business name ideas that can set you up for success as you launch a business .

These unique business names will help you build a memorable brand — one that your customers will recognize online, in advertisements, or at stores — and one that will ensure your products and services stand out from the competition.

As the former head of marketing for two different startups, I’ve learned that choosing the right business name is critical. Below, I’ll share some of my top business name ideas to inspire you as you brainstorm your own. Then, I’ll dive into what makes a business name great, how to name your business, and some of my favorite examples of creative business names.

Business Name Ideas

How i developed the best company name ideas for this list, 7 attributes of a great company name, how to name a business, company name examples, creative business name generators.

To kickstart your company naming journey, here are some unused company name ideas. These business name ideas aren’t just for inspiration — they’re available to use, so feel free to use any that suits your business.

Once you choose a business name, use HubSpot’s free Brand Kit Generator to create a logo for your new business.

Free Business Naming Workbook

9 templates to help you brainstorm a business name, develop your business plan, and pitch your idea to investors.

• Business Name Brainstorming Workbook
• Business Plan Template
• Business Startup Cost Calculator

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Small Business Name Ideas

• BlissSlim (Weight loss products)
• Jellysmith (Jelly company)
• SalesPushy (Sales training and consulting)
• Formonee (Fintech platform)
• GoAhead Co. (Design agency)
• Jump & Pass (Health and wellness)
• Wire2me (Financial services)
• Savvy Scholars (Elearning platform)
• S3 (Smart, Safe, and Secure) (Web security services)
• Blaze Cloud (Cloud storage)
• Your Security First (Security company)
• Sudden Supply (Supply chain management)
• Strategene (Asset management)
• DareDeserve (Tutoring and/or support services)
• Conveniently Timely (Delivery tools and services)
• HerdDream (Farming operations)
• Whole Life Synergy (Financial or long-term care planning)
• PeopleFirstPro (HR training)
• MissionMentor (Life coaching)
• Golden Years Guidance (Retirement planning)
• CapitalCurrent (Accounting and other financial services)
• TeachTech (IT training services)
• Tacteach (Life skills training)
• AccomplishNet (Networking services)
• Expedite Access (Product and fulfillment sourcing)
• GoalGenius (Goal-setting products)
• FearlessPeak (Adventure tour services)
• TimeQuest (Ancestry research)
• DreamTide (Health and wellness products)
• SynergyCycle (Corporate event services)
• EduGuru (Tutoring services)
• Tactink (Project management)
• Flyquest (Aviation training services)
• BoldSwap (Stock portfolio management services)
• Hobyz (Product hub with hard-to-find products for hobbyists)
• IdeaBoost (Creative services)
• JoinVisions (Networking services)
• StellarServe (Customer service)
• Aspirecraft (Creative services)
• Ambition Forge (Startup services)
• Quantumful (Data analysts)
• Ultimate Climb (Mountaineering classes)

Unique Business Name Ideas

• Quirky Observations (Boutique consulting firm)
• Dr. ChuckleMeds (Pharmacy)
• Sell-O-Rama (Ecommerce marketplace)
• Farm With Crowdee (Agriculture crowdfunding)
• ExploreAbundance (Life coaching)
• BuildCatalyst (Construction services)
• FunTastic Ventures (Local tour services)
• GlowGrid (Nightlight products)
• Social Bridge (Social media services)
• Odysseyshare (Gaming center)
• TogetherPath (Dating adventure services)
• CelsiusSpark (Personal trainer services)
• BagBurst (Accessories for new parents)
• Mitchell Crow (Vintage fashion brand)
• WhizWhip (Healthy snacks)
• StandoutStanley (Alternative athletic gear)
• EclectiChairs (Quirky furniture)
• ActioNexus (Motivational organization)
• Ignition Leap (Recruiting agency)
• Impacter (Influencer member org)
• Primerise (Startup services)
• Excelship (Financial services)
• Turbotonic (Beverage products)
• Progress Path (Project management)
• Idea Craftery (Creative services)
• PropelPal (Freelance agency)
• Cadence Core (Talent agency)
• Innovexpress (Creative agency)
• Connectverse (Networking services)

Catchy Business Name Ideas

• Shimmer Shake (Dance company)
• Odd Coupling (Dating services)
• RiseShineSustain (Environmental organization)
• YesAchievers (Tutoring services)
• Timeframe Genius (Project management)
• Goalcraft (Life coaching)
• ProfitPioneer (Financial advisory)
• VacayVentures (Group vacation services)
• NexusCore (Workout equipment)
• WindRush Trading (Financial services)
• Elevolution (Hiring services)
• Innoviary (Ad agency)
• Trekwise (Travel services)
• Braventure (Risk-taking services)
• Bubblit (Beverage products)
• PulseCharge (Fitness products)
• GlamGo (Fashion products)
• Culinatine (Restaurant)
• Eternivault (Online archiving services)
• Clicknect (Online services)
• ZenZest (Health and wellness)
• RideRev (Transportation services)
• SnapSavor (Photo services)
• MotionFit Studio (Fitness services)
• StellarSoul (Lifestyle services)
• Dream Mashup (Design services)
• Quantum Quota (Data analysts)
• Zenitharian (Future planning)
• Disco's Edge (Nostalgia products)
• StyleQuest (Secondhand store)

Marketing Company Business Name Ideas

• Expandfluence
• MovementNow
• Welcome/Story
• Positioning Awareness
• Marketsters
• Presence Rebrand
• LeadGen Pro
• OptiSuccess
• BrandReclaim
• ContentCrafters
• Tech Triggers
• Persuade360
• InfluenceRise

Real Estate Company Name Ideas

• ImagineLands
• HouseManage Pro
• Urbanspace Agency
• Rustic Manor Realty
• Inner Harmony Realty
• Cosmos Dwellings
• Noble Houses
• WisdomWise Homes
• RadiantHomes Realty
• PropSol Management
• EliteHome Ventures
• TopTerra Estates
• InfinityHouse Agency
• LuxeDomain Realty

Tech Company Name Ideas

• TrustTech Innovations
• Enigma Tech
• Secure Frontiers
• ShareHub Technologies

Consulting Business Name Ideas

• Focused Minds
• Triumphtician
• Imperial Insights
• ProSpectra Solutions
• CatalystX Strategies
• SocialBuzz Advisors
• AlphaStrategists
• TransformNet Consulting

Software Company Name Ideas

• EffortlessCoding
• SafetyShield Solutions
• Illuminate Coding
• TechCuriosity Labs
• Engineerenigma
• Code Conundrum
• VelocityByte

To create and curate the list of business name ideas above, I used the following process, combining research, AI, and a dash of creativity.

First, I wrote out a list of words to describe the emotions that small businesses strive to elicit, like loyalty, productivity, and satisfaction. Then, I added words for business goals for all types of businesses, like quality, cash flow, and awareness. Finally, I added motivational words to the list, like commit, imagine, and uplift. This led to a list of about 200 words.

I used an AI tool to generate some business name ideas. I started with the prompt, “Create 20 original business names inspired by the following ideas.” Then, I edited each prompt with different sections of the list.

The steps above created 816 potential business names. I figured this was a great collection of business names, and it would be easy to pull out 100+ names with potential. But a quick review gave me just 74 business names I liked and most of those needed a lot of editing.

So, I tried again. To develop more useful business names for inspiration, I created a list of popular brand names from different industries. Then, I asked the AI tool to create more business names for each category that aligned with the tone and feel of each industry.

I also edited the prompts and results by asking for business name alternatives with a specific tone or “vibe.” This last step helped to yield business name ideas that matched what I liked best about existing companies’ brand names. I added to these names by grabbing some options from a business name generator.

Free Business Startup kit

Once I had a list of about 200 business name ideas, it was time to start editing. Some of the AI business names were great. But others needed more personality, so I sat down with a notebook and my list of names to experiment.

The Make My Persona tool was useful for this process. I used this tool to build an ideal persona for each business type. These personas helped me keep the customer in mind as I edited each business name.

Sometimes, just changing a few letters, capitalization, or spacing was enough. Other times, the act of writing inspired completely new business name ideas. Through this process, I came up with 155 new business names. The list of names felt pretty unique, so I didn’t think that I would find much during a domain check.

But I was wrong: The domain check cleared out 73 of the 155 names I’d come up with. Overall, I lost 47% of my list of business names.

At first, I was frustrated — but this was actually a positive outcome. It meant that the names I’d come up with were workable for a successful business. But it was also a reminder of how important it is to come up with more than a couple of business name ideas when you’re naming your new business.

For business names where the .com domain was unavailable but other domains were open, I did an online search for the business name. This step reminded me that any new business isn’t just competing with other companies in a given industry. It's also competing with bands, Twitch streamers, YouTube influencers, and more.

For example, “Propellant” sounds like an exciting and easy-to-remember business name for a startup. But it’s also a word in the dictionary and a component of rocket fuel. So even if this domain was available, it probably wouldn’t be a great business name, because it would be hard to find online.

In total, this process took many hours and several rounds of edits to bring you a list of over 160 business names. Your naming process may not take quite as long, but chances are it will feel even more complex and urgent.

I know that the steps above might sound like a lot of work for just a word or two. But your business name is the center of your new brand. Over time, the name will take on more meaning as you grow your business and establish your value proposition.

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Use this free workbook to come up with a standout business name.

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7 Different Types of Business Plans Explained

11 min. read

Updated April 10, 2024

Business plans go by many names: Strategic plans, traditional plans , operational plans, feasibility plans, internal plans, growth plans, and more.

Different situations call for different types of plans. 

But what makes each type of plan unique? And why should you consider one type over another?

In this article, we’ll uncover a quick process to find the right type of business plan, along with an overview of each option. 

Let’s help you find the right planning format.

• What type of business plan do you need?

The short answer is… it depends. 

Your current business stage, intended audience, and how you’ll use the plan will all impact what format works best. 

Remember, just the act of planning will improve your chances of success . It’s important to land on an option that will support your needs. Don’t get too hung up on making the right choice and delay writing your plan.

So, how do you choose?

1. Know why you need a business plan

What are you creating a business plan for ? Are you pitching to potential investors? Applying for a loan? Trying to understand if your business idea is feasible?

You may need a business plan for one or multiple reasons. What you intend to do with it will inform what type of plan you need.

For example: A more robust and detailed plan may be necessary if you seek investment . But a shorter format could be more useful and less time-consuming if you’re just testing an idea.

2. Become familiar with your options

You don’t need to become a planning expert and understand every detail about every type of plan. You just need to know the basics:

• What makes this type of plan unique?
• What are its benefits?
• What are its drawbacks?
• Which types of businesses typically use it?

By taking the time to review, you’ll understand what you’re getting into and be more likely to complete your plan. Plus, you’ll come away with a document built with your use case(s) in mind—meaning you won’t have to restart to make it a valuable tool.

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3. Start small and grow

When choosing a business plan format, a good tactic is to opt for a shorter option and build from there. You’ll save time and effort and still come away with a working business plan.

Plus, you’ll better understand what further planning you may need to do. And you won’t be starting from scratch.

Read More: How to identify the right type of plan for your business

Again, the type of business plan you need fully depends on your situation and use case. But running through this quick exercise will help you narrow down your options. 

Now let’s look at the common business plan types you can choose from.

• Traditional business plan

The traditional (or standard) business plan is an in-depth document covering every aspect of your business. It’s the most common plan type you’ll come across. 

A traditional business plan is broken up into 10 sections:

• Executive summary
• Description of products and services
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing and sales plan
• Business operations
• Key milestones and metrics
• Organization and management team
• Financial plan
• Appendix 

Why use this type of plan?

A traditional business plan is best for anyone approaching specific business planning events—such as presenting a business plan to a bank or investor for funding.

A traditional plan can also be useful if you need to add more details around specific business areas. 

For example: You start as a solopreneur and don’t immediately need to define your team structure. But eventually you hit a threshold where you need more staff in order to keep growing. A great way to explore which roles you need and how they will function is by fleshing out the organization and management section .

That’s the unseen value of a more detailed plan like this. While you can follow the structure outlined above and create an in-depth plan ready for funding, you can also choose which sections to prioritize. 

Read More: How to write a traditional business plan  

• One-page plan

The one-page business plan is a simplified (but just as useful) version of a traditional business plan. It follows the same structure, but is far easier to create. It can even be used as a pitch document.

Here’s how you’ll organize information when using a one-page plan:

• Value proposition
• Market need
• Your solution
• Competition
• Target market
• Sales and marketing
• Budget and sales goals
• Team summary
• Key partners
• Funding needs

A one-page plan is faster and easier to assemble than a traditional plan. You can write a one-page plan in as little as 30 minutes . 

You’ll still cover the crucial details found in a traditional plan, but in a more manageable format.

So, if you’re exploring a business idea for the first time or updating your strategy—a one-page plan is ideal. You can review and update your entire plan in just a few minutes.

Applying for a loan with this type of plan probably wouldn’t make sense. Lenders typically want to see a more detailed plan to accurately assess potential risk. 

However, it is a great option to send to investors. 

“Investors these days are much less likely to look at a detailed plan,” says Palo Alto Software COO Noah Parsons. “An executive summary or one-page plan, pitch presentation, and financials are all a VC is likely to look at.”

Creating a more detailed plan is as much about being prepared as anything else. If you don’t dig into everything a traditional plan covers, you’ll struggle to land your pitch . 

If you don’t intend to seek funding, a one-page plan is often all you need. The key is regularly revisiting it to stay on top of your business. 

Let’s explore two unique processes to help you do that: 

Read More: How to write a one-page business plan

Lean planning process

Lean planning is a process that uses your one-page plan as a testing tool. The goal is to create a plan and immediately put it into action to see if your ideas actually work. You’ll typically be focusing on one (or all) of the following areas: 

• Strategy – What you will do
• Tactics – How you will do it
• Business Model – How you make money
• Schedule – Who is responsible and when will it happen

Why use this process?

Lean planning is best for businesses that need to move fast, test assumptions, revise, and get moving again. It’s short and simple, and meant to get everyone on the same page as quickly as possible. 

That’s why it’s so popular for startups. They don’t necessarily need a detailed plan, since they’re mostly focused on determining whether or not they have a viable business idea .

The only drawback is that this planning process is built primarily around early-stage businesses. It can be a useful tool for established businesses looking to test a strategy, but it may not be as helpful for ongoing management.

Read More: The fundamentals of lean planning

Growth planning

Growth planning is a financials-focused planning process designed to help you make quick and strategic decisions.

Again, it starts with a one-page plan outlining your strategy, tactics, business model, and schedule. The next step is to create a working financial forecast that includes projected sales, expenses, and cash flows.

From there, you run your business. 

As you go, track your actual financial performance and carve out time to compare it to your forecasts . If you spot any differences, these discrepancies may indicate problems or opportunities that call for adjusting your current strategy.

Growth planning combines the simplicity of the one-page plan and the speed of lean planning, with the power of financial forecasting. 

This makes the process useful for every business stage and even allows you to skip to the forecasting step if you already have a plan.

With growth planning, you’ll:

• Regularly revisit your financials
• Better understand how your business operates 
• Make quick and confident decisions

This process focuses on growing your business. If diving into your financials isn’t a priority right now, that’s okay. Start with a one-page plan instead, and revisit growth planning when you’re ready.

Read More: How to write a growth-oriented business plan

• Internal plan

Sometimes you just need a business plan that works as an internal management tool. 

Something to help you: 

• Set business goals
• Provide a high-level overview of operations
• Prepare to create budgets and financial projections

You don’t need an overly long and detailed business plan for this. Just a document that is easy to create, useful for developing or revisiting your strategy, and able to get everyone up to speed.

The internal plan is a great option if you’re not planning to present your plan to anyone outside your business. Especially if you’re an up-and-running business that may have created a plan previously. You might just need something simple for day-to-day use.

Read More: 8 steps to write a useful internal business plan

• 5-year business plan

Some investors or stakeholders may request a long-term plan stretching up to five years. They typically want to understand your vision for the future and see your long-term goals or milestones.  

To be honest, creating a detailed long-term business plan is typically a waste of time. There are a few exceptions:

• A long-term plan is specifically asked for
• You want to outline your long-term vision
• Real estate development
• Medical product manufacturing
• Transportation, automotive, aviation, or aerospace development

The reality is, you can’t predict what will happen in the next month, let alone the next one, three, or five years.

So, when creating a long-term plan, don’t dig too deep into the details. Focus on establishing long-term goals , annual growth targets, and aspirational milestones you’d like to hit.

Then supplement these with a more focused one-page plan that actually describes your current business, which you can use in your business right now.

Read More: How to write a five-year business plan

• Nonprofit business plan

A nonprofit business plan is not too different from a traditional plan. You should still cover all of the sections I listed above to help you build a sustainable business. 

The main differences in a nonprofit plan are tied to funding and awareness. You need to account for:

• Fundraising sources and activities.
• Alliances and partnerships.
• Promotion and outreach strategies.

You also need to set goals, track performance, and demonstrate that you have the right team to run a fiscally healthy organization. You’re just not pursuing profits, you’re trying to fulfill a mission. But you cannot serve your community if your organization isn’t financially stable.

If you can use your business plan to show that you’re a well-organized nonprofit organization, you are more likely to attract donors and convince investors to provide funding.

Read More: How to write a nonprofit business plan

Resources to help write your business plan

Don’t get too hung up on the type of business plan you choose. Remember, you can always start small and expand if you need to.

To help you do that, I recommend downloading our free one-page business plan template . It’s especially useful if you’re exploring an idea and need a quick way to document how your business will operate.

If you know you’ll pursue funding, download our free traditional business plan template . It’s already in an SBA-lender-approved format and provides detailed instructions for each section. And if you want to explore other options, check out our roundup of the 8 best business plan templates you can download for free.

Lastly, check out our library of over 550 sample business plans if you need inspiration. These can provide specific insight into what you should focus on in a given industry.

Remember, just by deciding to write a business plan, you are increasing your likelihood of success. Pick a format and start writing!

Types of business plans FAQ

Which type of planning should be done for a business?

The type of planning fully depends on your business stage and how you intend to use the plan. Generally, whatever format you choose should help you outline your strategy, business model, tactics, and timeline.

How many types of business plans are there?

There are seven common types of business plans, including: traditional, one-page, lean, growth, internal, 5-year, and nonprofit plans.

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

Table of Contents

• Plan writing resources

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6 Innovative Alternatives To The Traditional Business Plan

Competition is fierce and many ambitious individuals have the same vision of success as you do. And the best place to start beating the competition (after coming up with a killer idea) is with a well laid out business plan.

Now if you’ve looked into the topic, then you know that there’s a lot of debate on whether or not the traditional business plan is still effective. For budding entrepreneurs today, the business plan is outdated, overly complex and unnecessary . This leads us to ask the obvious question: If you still need to map out your business idea for others, where does this leave you?

If you’re looking to create a business plan that can impress investors, here are some modern ideas and innovative services you should consider.

Use A PowerPoint Slide Deck For Effective Pitch Meetings

PowerPoint has always been the tool of choice for presenting ideas. Why not use it for pitching your business?

Walking potential investors through a PowerPoint presentation on your iPad can be very effective. Take Tim Young, founder of Socialcast, for example. He used 5 slides for a business pitch  in 2010 and managed to raise over 10 million in investment funds for 2 startups.

From his experience, he found that a presentation can help your pitch because “by sharing a screen and sitting in close proximity to each other, the environment naturally becomes more comfortable and relaxed.” Certainly an idea worth considering if you get nervous while presenting.

Create A Successful Business Model With  LaunchBoard

With LaunchBoard , you can create, both simple or complex business models in no time. The tool is a perfect solution when you need to define your business and understand your customers. With several important features, such as analyzing data and deciding the best way to move forward, the tool has all the necessary options for any companies to succeed.

Image Source: LaunchBoard.io

You can track your team’s progress with an easy access to members KPI’s and the ability to get involved in every decision-making process. Discover and develop new market opportunities, brainstorm and test ideas, organize files quickly and make all information understandable to everyone.

Use A Lean Canvas For Concise Business Plans

Just because your business plan is short doesn’t mean it isn’t well thought out. When you create one with Lean Stack , you can boil down the essentials down to a one page blue print for quick at-a-glance reading.

Using a Lean Canvas is best for those situations where you’re making a pitch to investors who  have very little time and can’t go through all the nitty-gritty details. This is a paid service, but offers  free 30-day trials for both individual and team plans.

Grow Your Busines With Strategyzer

Image Source: Strategyzer.com

With Strategyzer’s business model canvas, you are getting a platform and services that  understand their customers. The numbers speak for themselves — over 5 million active users. With Strategyzer you can easily create better products and quickly grow your business. Moreover, with this app, you can analyze any business idea and identify its market potential. It offers training options for the entire companies or simply one person.

Create  A Visual Business Plan With Pinterest

This idea may go against what you know about best business plan practices, but using Pinterest can be a creative way of visualizing your idea for others. In fact, Tim Berry, angel investor, business planner and entrepreneur, stands behind the idea.

According to him, a   business plan created with Pinterest is more accessible than a slide deck and is helpful in steering your business in the right direction. This method doesn’t describe your business; it focuses on the output of the plan.

As Tim Berry points out, “a business plan is worthwhile because of the decisions that result from it. If the Pinterest plan helps you organize a team and set the main points so you can move forward logically, why not?” I think that sums it up exactly.

Use Live Plan For Easy To Read Business Plans

Like the other suggested ideas, Live Plan tries to combine the serious nature of business plans with easy to read formats. It offers everything needed to keep your financials, business pitch and plan in check with an admin dashboard and support for team collaboration.

Live Plan makes it easy for you to forecast and prioritize the main financial elements of your business strategy like value propositions, key partnerships, cost structure and so on. This service is perfect for pitching a concise business plan investors and banks can instantly understand.

In this day and age, packaging and presenting your business plan effectively is becoming increasingly important if you want to stand out. Have you created a traditional business plan in the past? Which alternative would you use?

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How to Write a Business Plan in 9 Steps (+ Template and Examples)

Every successful business has one thing in common, a good and well-executed business plan. A business plan is more than a document, it is a complete guide that outlines the goals your business wants to achieve, including its financial goals . It helps you analyze results, make strategic decisions, show your business operations and growth.

If you want to start a business or already have one and need to pitch it to investors for funding, writing a good business plan improves your chances of attracting financiers. As a startup, if you want to secure loans from financial institutions, part of the requirements involve submitting your business plan.

Writing a business plan does not have to be a complicated or time-consuming process. In this article, you will learn the step-by-step process for writing a successful business plan.

You will also learn what you need a business plan for, tips and strategies for writing a convincing business plan, business plan examples and templates that will save you tons of time, and the alternatives to the traditional business plan.

Let’s get started.

What Do You Need A Business Plan For?

Businesses create business plans for different purposes such as to secure funds, monitor business growth, measure your marketing strategies, and measure your business success.

1. Secure Funds

One of the primary reasons for writing a business plan is to secure funds, either from financial institutions/agencies or investors.

For you to effectively acquire funds, your business plan must contain the key elements of your business plan . For example, your business plan should include your growth plans, goals you want to achieve, and milestones you have recorded.

A business plan can also attract new business partners that are willing to contribute financially and intellectually. If you are writing a business plan to a bank, your project must show your traction , that is, the proof that you can pay back any loan borrowed.

Also, if you are writing to an investor, your plan must contain evidence that you can effectively utilize the funds you want them to invest in your business. Here, you are using your business plan to persuade a group or an individual that your business is a source of a good investment.

2. Monitor Business Growth

A business plan can help you track cash flows in your business. It steers your business to greater heights. A business plan capable of tracking business growth should contain:

• The business goals
• Methods to achieve the goals
• Time-frame for attaining those goals

A good business plan should guide you through every step in achieving your goals. It can also track the allocation of assets to every aspect of the business. You can tell when you are spending more than you should on a project.

You can compare a business plan to a written GPS. It helps you manage your business and hints at the right time to expand your business.

3. Measure Business Success

A business plan can help you measure your business success rate. Some small-scale businesses are thriving better than more prominent companies because of their track record of success.

Right from the onset of your business operation, set goals and work towards them. Write a plan to guide you through your procedures. Use your plan to measure how much you have achieved and how much is left to attain.

You can also weigh your success by monitoring the position of your brand relative to competitors. On the other hand, a business plan can also show you why you have not achieved a goal. It can tell if you have elapsed the time frame you set to attain a goal.

4. Document Your Marketing Strategies

You can use a business plan to document your marketing plans. Every business should have an effective marketing plan.

Competition mandates every business owner to go the extraordinary mile to remain relevant in the market. Your business plan should contain your marketing strategies that work. You can measure the success rate of your marketing plans.

In your business plan, your marketing strategy must answer the questions:

• How do you want to reach your target audience?
• How do you plan to retain your customers?
• What is/are your pricing plans?
• What is your budget for marketing?

How to Write a Business Plan Step-by-Step

1. create your executive summary.

The executive summary is a snapshot of your business or a high-level overview of your business purposes and plans . Although the executive summary is the first section in your business plan, most people write it last. The length of the executive summary is not more than two pages.

Generally, there are nine sections in a business plan, the executive summary should condense essential ideas from the other eight sections.

A good executive summary should do the following:

• A Snapshot of Growth Potential. Briefly inform the reader about your company and why it will be successful)
• Contain your Mission Statement which explains what the main objective or focus of your business is.
• Product Description and Differentiation. Brief description of your products or services and why it is different from other solutions in the market.
• The Team. Basic information about your company’s leadership team and employees
• Business Concept. A solid description of what your business does.
• Target Market. The customers you plan to sell to.
• Marketing Strategy. Your plans on reaching and selling to your customers
• Current Financial State. Brief information about what revenue your business currently generates.
• Projected Financial State. Brief information about what you foresee your business revenue to be in the future.

The executive summary is the make-or-break section of your business plan. If your summary cannot in less than two pages cannot clearly describe how your business will solve a particular problem of your target audience and make a profit, your business plan is set on a faulty foundation.

Avoid using the executive summary to hype your business, instead, focus on helping the reader understand the what and how of your plan.

View the executive summary as an opportunity to introduce your vision for your company. You know your executive summary is powerful when it can answer these key questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• What sector or industry are you in?
• What are your products and services?
• What is the future of your industry?
• Is your company scaleable?
• Who are the owners and leaders of your company? What are their backgrounds and experience levels?
• What is the motivation for starting your company?
• What are the next steps?

Writing the executive summary last although it is the most important section of your business plan is an excellent idea. The reason why is because it is a high-level overview of your business plan. It is the section that determines whether potential investors and lenders will read further or not.

The executive summary can be a stand-alone document that covers everything in your business plan. It is not uncommon for investors to request only the executive summary when evaluating your business. If the information in the executive summary impresses them, they will ask for the complete business plan.

If you are writing your business plan for your planning purposes, you do not need to write the executive summary.

2. Add Your Company Overview

The company overview or description is the next section in your business plan after the executive summary. It describes what your business does.

Adding your company overview can be tricky especially when your business is still in the planning stages. Existing businesses can easily summarize their current operations but may encounter difficulties trying to explain what they plan to become.

Your company overview should contain the following:

• What products and services you will provide
• Geographical markets and locations your company have a presence
• What you need to run your business
• Who your target audience or customers are
• Who will service your customers
• Your company’s purpose, mission, and vision
• Information about your company’s founders
• Who the founders are
• Notable achievements of your company so far

When creating a company overview, you have to focus on three basics: identifying your industry, identifying your customer, and explaining the problem you solve.

If you are stuck when creating your company overview, try to answer some of these questions that pertain to you.

• Who are you targeting? (The answer is not everyone)
• What pain point does your product or service solve for your customers that they will be willing to spend money on resolving?
• How does your product or service overcome that pain point?
• Where is the location of your business?
• What products, equipment, and services do you need to run your business?
• How is your company’s product or service different from your competition in the eyes of your customers?
• How many employees do you need and what skills do you require them to have?

After answering some or all of these questions, you will get more than enough information you need to write your company overview or description section. When writing this section, describe what your company does for your customers.

The company description or overview section contains three elements: mission statement, history, and objectives.

• Mission Statement

The mission statement refers to the reason why your business or company is existing. It goes beyond what you do or sell, it is about the ‘why’. A good mission statement should be emotional and inspirational.

Your mission statement should follow the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid). For example, Shopify’s mission statement is “Make commerce better for everyone.”

When describing your company’s history, make it simple and avoid the temptation of tying it to a defensive narrative. Write it in the manner you would a profile. Your company’s history should include the following information:

• Founding Date
• Major Milestones
• Location(s)
• Flagship Products or Services
• Number of Employees
• Executive Leadership Roles

When you fill in this information, you use it to write one or two paragraphs about your company’s history.

Business Objectives

Your business objective must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.) Failure to clearly identify your business objectives does not inspire confidence and makes it hard for your team members to work towards a common purpose.

3. Perform Market and Competitive Analyses to Proof a Big Enough Business Opportunity

The third step in writing a business plan is the market and competitive analysis section. Every business, no matter the size, needs to perform comprehensive market and competitive analyses before it enters into a market.

Performing market and competitive analyses are critical for the success of your business. It helps you avoid entering the right market with the wrong product, or vice versa. Anyone reading your business plans, especially financiers and financial institutions will want to see proof that there is a big enough business opportunity you are targeting.

This section is where you describe the market and industry you want to operate in and show the big opportunities in the market that your business can leverage to make a profit. If you noticed any unique trends when doing your research, show them in this section.

Market analysis alone is not enough, you have to add competitive analysis to strengthen this section. There are already businesses in the industry or market, how do you plan to take a share of the market from them?

You have to clearly illustrate the competitive landscape in your business plan. Are there areas your competitors are doing well? Are there areas where they are not doing so well? Show it.

Make it clear in this section why you are moving into the industry and what weaknesses are present there that you plan to explain. How are your competitors going to react to your market entry? How do you plan to get customers? Do you plan on taking your competitors' competitors, tap into other sources for customers, or both?

Illustrate the competitive landscape as well. What are your competitors doing well and not so well?

Answering these questions and thoughts will aid your market and competitive analysis of the opportunities in your space. Depending on how sophisticated your industry is, or the expectations of your financiers, you may need to carry out a more comprehensive market and competitive analysis to prove that big business opportunity.

Instead of looking at the market and competitive analyses as one entity, separating them will make the research even more comprehensive.

Market Analysis

Market analysis, boarding speaking, refers to research a business carried out on its industry, market, and competitors. It helps businesses gain a good understanding of their target market and the outlook of their industry. Before starting a company, it is vital to carry out market research to find out if the market is viable.

The market analysis section is a key part of the business plan. It is the section where you identify who your best clients or customers are. You cannot omit this section, without it your business plan is incomplete.

A good market analysis will tell your readers how you fit into the existing market and what makes you stand out. This section requires in-depth research, it will probably be the most time-consuming part of the business plan to write.

• Market Research

To create a compelling market analysis that will win over investors and financial institutions, you have to carry out thorough market research . Your market research should be targeted at your primary target market for your products or services. Here is what you want to find out about your target market.

• Your target market’s needs or pain points
• The existing solutions for their pain points
• Geographic Location
• Demographics

The purpose of carrying out a marketing analysis is to get all the information you need to show that you have a solid and thorough understanding of your target audience.

Only after you have fully understood the people you plan to sell your products or services to, can you evaluate correctly if your target market will be interested in your products or services.

You can easily convince interested parties to invest in your business if you can show them you thoroughly understand the market and show them that there is a market for your products or services.

How to Quantify Your Target Market

One of the goals of your marketing research is to understand who your ideal customers are and their purchasing power. To quantify your target market, you have to determine the following:

• Your Potential Customers: They are the people you plan to target. For example, if you sell accounting software for small businesses , then anyone who runs an enterprise or large business is unlikely to be your customers. Also, individuals who do not have a business will most likely not be interested in your product.
• Total Households: If you are selling household products such as heating and air conditioning systems, determining the number of total households is more important than finding out the total population in the area you want to sell to. The logic is simple, people buy the product but it is the household that uses it.
• Median Income: You need to know the median income of your target market. If you target a market that cannot afford to buy your products and services, your business will not last long.
• Income by Demographics: If your potential customers belong to a certain age group or gender, determining income levels by demographics is necessary. For example, if you sell men's clothes, your target audience is men.

What Does a Good Market Analysis Entail?

Your business does not exist on its own, it can only flourish within an industry and alongside competitors. Market analysis takes into consideration your industry, target market, and competitors. Understanding these three entities will drastically improve your company’s chances of success.

You can view your market analysis as an examination of the market you want to break into and an education on the emerging trends and themes in that market. Good market analyses include the following:

• Industry Description. You find out about the history of your industry, the current and future market size, and who the largest players/companies are in your industry.
• Overview of Target Market. You research your target market and its characteristics. Who are you targeting? Note, it cannot be everyone, it has to be a specific group. You also have to find out all information possible about your customers that can help you understand how and why they make buying decisions.
• Size of Target Market: You need to know the size of your target market, how frequently they buy, and the expected quantity they buy so you do not risk overproducing and having lots of bad inventory. Researching the size of your target market will help you determine if it is big enough for sustained business or not.
• Growth Potential: Before picking a target market, you want to be sure there are lots of potential for future growth. You want to avoid going for an industry that is declining slowly or rapidly with almost zero growth potential.
• Market Share Potential: Does your business stand a good chance of taking a good share of the market?
• Market Pricing and Promotional Strategies: Your market analysis should give you an idea of the price point you can expect to charge for your products and services. Researching your target market will also give you ideas of pricing strategies you can implement to break into the market or to enjoy maximum profits.
• Potential Barriers to Entry: One of the biggest benefits of conducting market analysis is that it shows you every potential barrier to entry your business will likely encounter. It is a good idea to discuss potential barriers to entry such as changing technology. It informs readers of your business plan that you understand the market.
• Research on Competitors: You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and how you can exploit them for the benefit of your business. Find patterns and trends among your competitors that make them successful, discover what works and what doesn’t, and see what you can do better.

The market analysis section is not just for talking about your target market, industry, and competitors. You also have to explain how your company can fill the hole you have identified in the market.

Here are some questions you can answer that can help you position your product or service in a positive light to your readers.

• Is your product or service of superior quality?
• What additional features do you offer that your competitors do not offer?
• Are you targeting a ‘new’ market?

Basically, your market analysis should include an analysis of what already exists in the market and an explanation of how your company fits into the market.

Competitive Analysis

In the competitive analysis section, y ou have to understand who your direct and indirect competitions are, and how successful they are in the marketplace. It is the section where you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, the advantage(s) they possess in the market and show the unique features or qualities that make you different from your competitors.

Many businesses do market analysis and competitive analysis together. However, to fully understand what the competitive analysis entails, it is essential to separate it from the market analysis.

Competitive analysis for your business can also include analysis on how to overcome barriers to entry in your target market.

The primary goal of conducting a competitive analysis is to distinguish your business from your competitors. A strong competitive analysis is essential if you want to convince potential funding sources to invest in your business. You have to show potential investors and lenders that your business has what it takes to compete in the marketplace successfully.

Competitive analysis will s how you what the strengths of your competition are and what they are doing to maintain that advantage.

When doing your competitive research, you first have to identify your competitor and then get all the information you can about them. The idea of spending time to identify your competitor and learn everything about them may seem daunting but it is well worth it.

Find answers to the following questions after you have identified who your competitors are.

• What are your successful competitors doing?
• Why is what they are doing working?
• Can your business do it better?
• What are the weaknesses of your successful competitors?
• What are they not doing well?
• Can your business turn its weaknesses into strengths?
• How good is your competitors’ customer service?
• Where do your competitors invest in advertising?
• What sales and pricing strategies are they using?
• What marketing strategies are they using?
• What kind of press coverage do they get?
• What are their customers saying about your competitors (both the positive and negative)?

If your competitors have a website, it is a good idea to visit their websites for more competitors’ research. Check their “About Us” page for more information.

If you are presenting your business plan to investors, you need to clearly distinguish yourself from your competitors. Investors can easily tell when you have not properly researched your competitors.

Take time to think about what unique qualities or features set you apart from your competitors. If you do not have any direct competition offering your product to the market, it does not mean you leave out the competitor analysis section blank. Instead research on other companies that are providing a similar product, or whose product is solving the problem your product solves.

The next step is to create a table listing the top competitors you want to include in your business plan. Ensure you list your business as the last and on the right. What you just created is known as the competitor analysis table.

Direct vs Indirect Competition

You cannot know if your product or service will be a fit for your target market if you have not understood your business and the competitive landscape.

There is no market you want to target where you will not encounter competition, even if your product is innovative. Including competitive analysis in your business plan is essential.

If you are entering an established market, you need to explain how you plan to differentiate your products from the available options in the market. Also, include a list of few companies that you view as your direct competitors The competition you face in an established market is your direct competition.

In situations where you are entering a market with no direct competition, it does not mean there is no competition there. Consider your indirect competition that offers substitutes for the products or services you offer.

For example, if you sell an innovative SaaS product, let us say a project management software , a company offering time management software is your indirect competition.

There is an easy way to find out who your indirect competitors are in the absence of no direct competitors. You simply have to research how your potential customers are solving the problems that your product or service seeks to solve. That is your direct competition.

Factors that Differentiate Your Business from the Competition

There are three main factors that any business can use to differentiate itself from its competition. They are cost leadership, product differentiation, and market segmentation.

1. Cost Leadership

A strategy you can impose to maximize your profits and gain an edge over your competitors. It involves offering lower prices than what the majority of your competitors are offering.

A common practice among businesses looking to enter into a market where there are dominant players is to use free trials or pricing to attract as many customers as possible to their offer.

2. Product Differentiation

Your product or service should have a unique selling proposition (USP) that your competitors do not have or do not stress in their marketing.

Part of the marketing strategy should involve making your products unique and different from your competitors. It does not have to be different from your competitors, it can be the addition to a feature or benefit that your competitors do not currently have.

3. Market Segmentation

As a new business seeking to break into an industry, you will gain more success from focusing on a specific niche or target market, and not the whole industry.

If your competitors are focused on a general need or target market, you can differentiate yourself from them by having a small and hyper-targeted audience. For example, if your competitors are selling men’s clothes in their online stores , you can sell hoodies for men.

4. Define Your Business and Management Structure

The next step in your business plan is your business and management structure. It is the section where you describe the legal structure of your business and the team running it.

Your business is only as good as the management team that runs it, while the management team can only strive when there is a proper business and management structure in place.

If your company is a sole proprietor or a limited liability company (LLC), a general or limited partnership, or a C or an S corporation, state it clearly in this section.

Use an organizational chart to show the management structure in your business. Clearly show who is in charge of what area in your company. It is where you show how each key manager or team leader’s unique experience can contribute immensely to the success of your company. You can also opt to add the resumes and CVs of the key players in your company.

The business and management structure section should show who the owner is, and other owners of the businesses (if the business has other owners). For businesses or companies with multiple owners, include the percent ownership of the various owners and clearly show the extent of each others’ involvement in the company.

Investors want to know who is behind the company and the team running it to determine if it has the right management to achieve its set goals.

Management Team

The management team section is where you show that you have the right team in place to successfully execute the business operations and ideas. Take time to create the management structure for your business. Think about all the important roles and responsibilities that you need managers for to grow your business.

Include brief bios of each key team member and ensure you highlight only the relevant information that is needed. If your team members have background industry experience or have held top positions for other companies and achieved success while filling that role, highlight it in this section.

A common mistake that many startups make is assigning C-level titles such as (CMO and CEO) to everyone on their team. It is unrealistic for a small business to have those titles. While it may look good on paper for the ego of your team members, it can prevent investors from investing in your business.

Instead of building an unrealistic management structure that does not fit your business reality, it is best to allow business titles to grow as the business grows. Starting everyone at the top leaves no room for future change or growth, which is bad for productivity.

Your management team does not have to be complete before you start writing your business plan. You can have a complete business plan even when there are managerial positions that are empty and need filling.

If you have management gaps in your team, simply show the gaps and indicate you are searching for the right candidates for the role(s). Investors do not expect you to have a full management team when you are just starting your business.

Key Questions to Answer When Structuring Your Management Team

• Who are the key leaders?
• What experiences, skills, and educational backgrounds do you expect your key leaders to have?
• Do your key leaders have industry experience?
• What positions will they fill and what duties will they perform in those positions?
• What level of authority do the key leaders have and what are their responsibilities?
• What is the salary for the various management positions that will attract the ideal candidates?

Additional Tips for Writing the Management Structure Section

1. Avoid Adding ‘Ghost’ Names to Your Management Team

There is always that temptation to include a ‘ghost’ name to your management team to attract and influence investors to invest in your business. Although the presence of these celebrity management team members may attract the attention of investors, it can cause your business to lose any credibility if you get found out.

Seasoned investors will investigate further the members of your management team before committing fully to your business If they find out that the celebrity name used does not play any actual role in your business, they will not invest and may write you off as dishonest.

2. Focus on Credentials But Pay Extra Attention to the Roles

Investors want to know the experience that your key team members have to determine if they can successfully reach the company’s growth and financial goals.

While it is an excellent boost for your key management team to have the right credentials, you also want to pay extra attention to the roles they will play in your company.

Organizational Chart

Adding an organizational chart in this section of your business plan is not necessary, you can do it in your business plan’s appendix.

If you are exploring funding options, it is not uncommon to get asked for your organizational chart. The function of an organizational chart goes beyond raising money, you can also use it as a useful planning tool for your business.

An organizational chart can help you identify how best to structure your management team for maximum productivity and point you towards key roles you need to fill in the future.

You can use the organizational chart to show your company’s internal management structure such as the roles and responsibilities of your management team, and relationships that exist between them.

5. Describe Your Product and Service Offering

In your business plan, you have to describe what you sell or the service you plan to offer. It is the next step after defining your business and management structure. The products and services section is where you sell the benefits of your business.

Here you have to explain how your product or service will benefit your customers and describe your product lifecycle. It is also the section where you write down your plans for intellectual property like patent filings and copyrighting.

The research and development that you are undertaking for your product or service need to be explained in detail in this section. However, do not get too technical, sell the general idea and its benefits.

If you have any diagrams or intricate designs of your product or service, do not include them in the products and services section. Instead, leave them for the addendum page. Also, if you are leaving out diagrams or designs for the addendum, ensure you add this phrase “For more detail, visit the addendum Page #.”

Your product and service section in your business plan should include the following:

• A detailed explanation that clearly shows how your product or service works.
• The pricing model for your product or service.
• Your business’ sales and distribution strategy.
• The ideal customers that want your product or service.
• The benefits of your products and services.
• Reason(s) why your product or service is a better alternative to what your competitors are currently offering in the market.
• Plans for filling the orders you receive
• If you have current or pending patents, copyrights, and trademarks for your product or service, you can also discuss them in this section.

What to Focus On When Describing the Benefits, Lifecycle, and Production Process of Your Products or Services

In the products and services section, you have to distill the benefits, lifecycle, and production process of your products and services.

When describing the benefits of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Unique features
• Translating the unique features into benefits
• The emotional, psychological, and practical payoffs to attract customers
• Intellectual property rights or any patents

When describing the product life cycle of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Upsells, cross-sells, and down-sells
• Time between purchases
• Plans for research and development.

When describing the production process for your products or services, you need to think about the following:

• The creation of new or existing products and services.
• The sources for the raw materials or components you need for production.
• Assembling the products
• Maintaining quality control
• Supply-chain logistics (receiving the raw materials and delivering the finished products)
• The day-to-day management of the production processes, bookkeeping, and inventory.

Tips for Writing the Products or Services Section of Your Business Plan

1. Avoid Technical Descriptions and Industry Buzzwords

The products and services section of your business plan should clearly describe the products and services that your company provides. However, it is not a section to include technical jargons that anyone outside your industry will not understand.

A good practice is to remove highly detailed or technical descriptions in favor of simple terms. Industry buzzwords are not necessary, if there are simpler terms you can use, then use them. If you plan to use your business plan to source funds, making the product or service section so technical will do you no favors.

2. Describe How Your Products or Services Differ from Your Competitors

When potential investors look at your business plan, they want to know how the products and services you are offering differ from that of your competition. Differentiating your products or services from your competition in a way that makes your solution more attractive is critical.

If you are going the innovative path and there is no market currently for your product or service, you need to describe in this section why the market needs your product or service.

For example, overnight delivery was a niche business that only a few companies were participating in. Federal Express (FedEx) had to show in its business plan that there was a large opportunity for that service and they justified why the market needed that service.

3. Long or Short Products or Services Section

Should your products or services section be short? Does the long products or services section attract more investors?

There are no straightforward answers to these questions. Whether your products or services section should be long or relatively short depends on the nature of your business.

If your business is product-focused, then automatically you need to use more space to describe the details of your products. However, if the product your business sells is a commodity item that relies on competitive pricing or other pricing strategies, you do not have to use up so much space to provide significant details about the product.

Likewise, if you are selling a commodity that is available in numerous outlets, then you do not have to spend time on writing a long products or services section.

The key to the success of your business is most likely the effectiveness of your marketing strategies compared to your competitors. Use more space to address that section.

If you are creating a new product or service that the market does not know about, your products or services section can be lengthy. The reason why is because you need to explain everything about the product or service such as the nature of the product, its use case, and values.

A short products or services section for an innovative product or service will not give the readers enough information to properly evaluate your business.

4. Describe Your Relationships with Vendors or Suppliers

Your business will rely on vendors or suppliers to supply raw materials or the components needed to make your products. In your products and services section, describe your relationships with your vendors and suppliers fully.

Avoid the mistake of relying on only one supplier or vendor. If that supplier or vendor fails to supply or goes out of business, you can easily face supply problems and struggle to meet your demands. Plan to set up multiple vendor or supplier relationships for better business stability.

5. Your Primary Goal Is to Convince Your Readers

The primary goal of your business plan is to convince your readers that your business is viable and to create a guide for your business to follow. It applies to the products and services section.

When drafting this section, think like the reader. See your reader as someone who has no idea about your products and services. You are using the products and services section to provide the needed information to help your reader understand your products and services. As a result, you have to be clear and to the point.

While you want to educate your readers about your products or services, you also do not want to bore them with lots of technical details. Show your products and services and not your fancy choice of words.

Your products and services section should provide the answer to the “what” question for your business. You and your management team may run the business, but it is your products and services that are the lifeblood of the business.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing your Products and Services Section

Answering these questions can help you write your products and services section quickly and in a way that will appeal to your readers.

• Are your products existing on the market or are they still in the development stage?
• What is your timeline for adding new products and services to the market?
• What are the positives that make your products and services different from your competitors?
• Do your products and services have any competitive advantage that your competitors’ products and services do not currently have?
• Do your products or services have any competitive disadvantages that you need to overcome to compete with your competitors? If your answer is yes, state how you plan to overcome them,
• How much does it cost to produce your products or services? How much do you plan to sell it for?
• What is the price for your products and services compared to your competitors? Is pricing an issue?
• What are your operating costs and will it be low enough for you to compete with your competitors and still take home a reasonable profit margin?
• What is your plan for acquiring your products? Are you involved in the production of your products or services?
• Are you the manufacturer and produce all the components you need to create your products? Do you assemble your products by using components supplied by other manufacturers? Do you purchase your products directly from suppliers or wholesalers?
• Do you have a steady supply of products that you need to start your business? (If your business is yet to kick-off)
• How do you plan to distribute your products or services to the market?

You can also hint at the marketing or promotion plans you have for your products or services such as how you plan to build awareness or retain customers. The next section is where you can go fully into details about your business’s marketing and sales plan.

6. Show and Explain Your Marketing and Sales Plan

Providing great products and services is wonderful, but it means nothing if you do not have a marketing and sales plan to inform your customers about them. Your marketing and sales plan is critical to the success of your business.

The sales and marketing section is where you show and offer a detailed explanation of your marketing and sales plan and how you plan to execute it. It covers your pricing plan, proposed advertising and promotion activities, activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success, and the benefits of your products and services.

There are several ways you can approach your marketing and sales strategy. Ideally, your marketing and sales strategy has to fit the unique needs of your business.

In this section, you describe how the plans your business has for attracting and retaining customers, and the exact process for making a sale happen. It is essential to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales plans because you are still going to reference this section when you are making financial projections for your business.

Outline Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The sales and marketing section is where you outline your business’s unique selling proposition (USP). When you are developing your unique selling proposition, think about the strongest reasons why people should buy from you over your competition. That reason(s) is most likely a good fit to serve as your unique selling proposition (USP).

Target Market and Target Audience

Plans on how to get your products or services to your target market and how to get your target audience to buy them go into this section. You also highlight the strengths of your business here, particularly what sets them apart from your competition.

Before you start writing your marketing and sales plan, you need to have properly defined your target audience and fleshed out your buyer persona. If you do not first understand the individual you are marketing to, your marketing and sales plan will lack any substance and easily fall.

Creating a Smart Marketing and Sales Plan

Marketing your products and services is an investment that requires you to spend money. Like any other investment, you have to generate a good return on investment (ROI) to justify using that marketing and sales plan. Good marketing and sales plans bring in high sales and profits to your company.

Avoid spending money on unproductive marketing channels. Do your research and find out the best marketing and sales plan that works best for your company.

Your marketing and sales plan can be broken into different parts: your positioning statement, pricing, promotion, packaging, advertising, public relations, content marketing, social media, and strategic alliances.

Your Positioning Statement

Your positioning statement is the first part of your marketing and sales plan. It refers to the way you present your company to your customers.

Are you the premium solution, the low-price solution, or are you the intermediary between the two extremes in the market? What do you offer that your competitors do not that can give you leverage in the market?

Before you start writing your positioning statement, you need to spend some time evaluating the current market conditions. Here are some questions that can help you to evaluate the market

• What are the unique features or benefits that you offer that your competitors lack?
• What are your customers’ primary needs and wants?
• Why should a customer choose you over your competition? How do you plan to differentiate yourself from the competition?
• How does your company’s solution compare with other solutions in the market?

After answering these questions, then you can start writing your positioning statement. Your positioning statement does not have to be in-depth or too long.

All you need to explain with your positioning statement are two focus areas. The first is the position of your company within the competitive landscape. The other focus area is the core value proposition that sets your company apart from other alternatives that your ideal customer might consider.

Here is a simple template you can use to develop a positioning statement.

For [description of target market] who [need of target market], [product or service] [how it meets the need]. Unlike [top competition], it [most essential distinguishing feature].

For example, let’s create the positioning statement for fictional accounting software and QuickBooks alternative , TBooks.

“For small business owners who need accounting services, TBooks is an accounting software that helps small businesses handle their small business bookkeeping basics quickly and easily. Unlike Wave, TBooks gives small businesses access to live sessions with top accountants.”

You can edit this positioning statement sample and fill it with your business details.

After writing your positioning statement, the next step is the pricing of your offerings. The overall positioning strategy you set in your positioning statement will often determine how you price your products or services.

Pricing is a powerful tool that sends a strong message to your customers. Failure to get your pricing strategy right can make or mar your business. If you are targeting a low-income audience, setting a premium price can result in low sales.

You can use pricing to communicate your positioning to your customers. For example, if you are offering a product at a premium price, you are sending a message to your customers that the product belongs to the premium category.

Basic Rules to Follow When Pricing Your Offering

Setting a price for your offering involves more than just putting a price tag on it. Deciding on the right pricing for your offering requires following some basic rules. They include covering your costs, primary and secondary profit center pricing, and matching the market rate.

• Covering Your Costs: The price you set for your products or service should be more than it costs you to produce and deliver them. Every business has the same goal, to make a profit. Depending on the strategy you want to use, there are exceptions to this rule. However, the vast majority of businesses follow this rule.
• Primary and Secondary Profit Center Pricing: When a company sets its price above the cost of production, it is making that product its primary profit center. A company can also decide not to make its initial price its primary profit center by selling below or at even with its production cost. It rather depends on the support product or even maintenance that is associated with the initial purchase to make its profit. The initial price thus became its secondary profit center.
• Matching the Market Rate: A good rule to follow when pricing your products or services is to match your pricing with consumer demand and expectations. If you price your products or services beyond the price your customer perceives as the ideal price range, you may end up with no customers. Pricing your products too low below what your customer perceives as the ideal price range may lead to them undervaluing your offering.

Pricing Strategy

Your pricing strategy influences the price of your offering. There are several pricing strategies available for you to choose from when examining the right pricing strategy for your business. They include cost-plus pricing, market-based pricing, value pricing, and more.

• Cost-plus Pricing: This strategy is one of the simplest and oldest pricing strategies. Here you consider the cost of producing a unit of your product and then add a profit to it to arrive at your market price. It is an effective pricing strategy for manufacturers because it helps them cover their initial costs. Another name for the cost-plus pricing strategy is the markup pricing strategy.
• Market-based Pricing: This pricing strategy analyses the market including competitors’ pricing and then sets a price based on what the market is expecting. With this pricing strategy, you can either set your price at the low-end or high-end of the market.
• Value Pricing: This pricing strategy involves setting a price based on the value you are providing to your customer. When adopting a value-based pricing strategy, you have to set a price that your customers are willing to pay. Service-based businesses such as small business insurance providers , luxury goods sellers, and the fashion industry use this pricing strategy.

After carefully sorting out your positioning statement and pricing, the next item to look at is your promotional strategy. Your promotional strategy explains how you plan on communicating with your customers and prospects.

As a business, you must measure all your costs, including the cost of your promotions. You also want to measure how much sales your promotions bring for your business to determine its usefulness. Promotional strategies or programs that do not lead to profit need to be removed.

There are different types of promotional strategies you can adopt for your business, they include advertising, public relations, and content marketing.

Advertising

Your business plan should include your advertising plan which can be found in the marketing and sales plan section. You need to include an overview of your advertising plans such as the areas you plan to spend money on to advertise your business and offers.

Ensure that you make it clear in this section if your business will be advertising online or using the more traditional offline media, or the combination of both online and offline media. You can also include the advertising medium you want to use to raise awareness about your business and offers.

Some common online advertising mediums you can use include social media ads, landing pages, sales pages, SEO, Pay-Per-Click, emails, Google Ads, and others. Some common traditional and offline advertising mediums include word of mouth, radios, direct mail, televisions, flyers, billboards, posters, and others.

A key component of your advertising strategy is how you plan to measure the effectiveness and success of your advertising campaign. There is no point in sticking with an advertising plan or medium that does not produce results for your business in the long run.

Public Relations

A great way to reach your customers is to get the media to cover your business or product. Publicity, especially good ones, should be a part of your marketing and sales plan. In this section, show your plans for getting prominent reviews of your product from reputable publications and sources.

Your business needs that exposure to grow. If public relations is a crucial part of your promotional strategy, provide details about your public relations plan here.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a popular promotional strategy used by businesses to inform and attract their customers. It is about teaching and educating your prospects on various topics of interest in your niche, it does not just involve informing them about the benefits and features of the products and services you have,

Businesses publish content usually for free where they provide useful information, tips, and advice so that their target market can be made aware of the importance of their products and services. Content marketing strategies seek to nurture prospects into buyers over time by simply providing value.

Your company can create a blog where it will be publishing content for its target market. You will need to use the best website builder such as Wix and Squarespace and the best web hosting services such as Bluehost, Hostinger, and other Bluehost alternatives to create a functional blog or website.

If content marketing is a crucial part of your promotional strategy (as it should be), detail your plans under promotions.

Including high-quality images of the packaging of your product in your business plan is a lovely idea. You can add the images of the packaging of that product in the marketing and sales plan section. If you are not selling a product, then you do not need to include any worry about the physical packaging of your product.

When organizing the packaging section of your business plan, you can answer the following questions to make maximum use of this section.

• Is your choice of packaging consistent with your positioning strategy?
• What key value proposition does your packaging communicate? (It should reflect the key value proposition of your business)
• How does your packaging compare to that of your competitors?

Social Media

Your 21st-century business needs to have a good social media presence. Not having one is leaving out opportunities for growth and reaching out to your prospect.

You do not have to join the thousands of social media platforms out there. What you need to do is join the ones that your customers are active on and be active there.

Businesses use social media to provide information about their products such as promotions, discounts, the benefits of their products, and content on their blogs.

Social media is also a platform for engaging with your customers and getting feedback about your products or services. Make no mistake, more and more of your prospects are using social media channels to find more information about companies.

You need to consider the social media channels you want to prioritize your business (prioritize the ones your customers are active in) and your branding plans in this section.

Strategic Alliances

If your company plans to work closely with other companies as part of your sales and marketing plan, include it in this section. Prove details about those partnerships in your business plan if you have already established them.

Strategic alliances can be beneficial for all parties involved including your company. Working closely with another company in the form of a partnership can provide access to a different target market segment for your company.

The company you are partnering with may also gain access to your target market or simply offer a new product or service (that of your company) to its customers.

Mutually beneficial partnerships can cover the weaknesses of one company with the strength of another. You should consider strategic alliances with companies that sell complimentary products to yours. For example, if you provide printers, you can partner with a company that produces ink since the customers that buy printers from you will also need inks for printing.

Steps Involved in Creating a Marketing and Sales Plan

1. Focus on Your Target Market

Identify who your customers are, the market you want to target. Then determine the best ways to get your products or services to your potential customers.

2. Evaluate Your Competition

One of the goals of having a marketing plan is to distinguish yourself from your competition. You cannot stand out from them without first knowing them in and out.

You can know your competitors by gathering information about their products, pricing, service, and advertising campaigns.

These questions can help you know your competition.

• What makes your competition successful?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What are customers saying about your competition?

3. Consider Your Brand

Customers' perception of your brand has a strong impact on your sales. Your marketing and sales plan should seek to bolster the image of your brand. Before you start marketing your business, think about the message you want to pass across about your business and your products and services.

4. Focus on Benefits

The majority of your customers do not view your product in terms of features, what they want to know is the benefits and solutions your product offers. Think about the problems your product solves and the benefits it delivers, and use it to create the right sales and marketing message.

Your marketing plan should focus on what you want your customer to get instead of what you provide. Identify those benefits in your marketing and sales plan.

5. Focus on Differentiation

Your marketing and sales plan should look for a unique angle they can take that differentiates your business from the competition, even if the products offered are similar. Some good areas of differentiation you can use are your benefits, pricing, and features.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing Your Marketing and Sales Plan

• What is your company’s budget for sales and marketing campaigns?
• What key metrics will you use to determine if your marketing plans are successful?
• What are your alternatives if your initial marketing efforts do not succeed?
• Who are the sales representatives you need to promote your products or services?
• What are the marketing and sales channels you plan to use? How do you plan to get your products in front of your ideal customers?
• Where will you sell your products?

You may want to include samples of marketing materials you plan to use such as print ads, website descriptions, and social media ads. While it is not compulsory to include these samples, it can help you better communicate your marketing and sales plan and objectives.

The purpose of the marketing and sales section is to answer this question “How will you reach your customers?” If you cannot convincingly provide an answer to this question, you need to rework your marketing and sales section.

7. Clearly Show Your Funding Request

If you are writing your business plan to ask for funding from investors or financial institutions, the funding request section is where you will outline your funding requirements. The funding request section should answer the question ‘How much money will your business need in the near future (3 to 5 years)?’

A good funding request section will clearly outline and explain the amount of funding your business needs over the next five years. You need to know the amount of money your business needs to make an accurate funding request.

Also, when writing your funding request, provide details of how the funds will be used over the period. Specify if you want to use the funds to buy raw materials or machinery, pay salaries, pay for advertisements, and cover specific bills such as rent and electricity.

In addition to explaining what you want to use the funds requested for, you need to clearly state the projected return on investment (ROI) . Investors and creditors want to know if your business can generate profit for them if they put funds into it.

Ensure you do not inflate the figures and stay as realistic as possible. Investors and financial institutions you are seeking funds from will do their research before investing money in your business.

If you are not sure of an exact number to request from, you can use some range of numbers as rough estimates. Add a best-case scenario and a work-case scenario to your funding request. Also, include a description of your strategic future financial plans such as selling your business or paying off debts.

Funding Request: Debt or Equity?

When making your funding request, specify the type of funding you want. Do you want debt or equity? Draw out the terms that will be applicable for the funding, and the length of time the funding request will cover.

Case for Equity

If your new business has not yet started generating profits, you are most likely preparing to sell equity in your business to raise capital at the early stage. Equity here refers to ownership. In this case, you are selling a portion of your company to raise capital.

Although this method of raising capital for your business does not put your business in debt, keep in mind that an equity owner may expect to play a key role in company decisions even if he does not hold a major stake in the company.

Most equity sales for startups are usually private transactions . If you are making a funding request by offering equity in exchange for funding, let the investor know that they will be paid a dividend (a share of the company’s profit). Also, let the investor know the process for selling their equity in your business.

Case for Debt

You may decide not to offer equity in exchange for funds, instead, you make a funding request with the promise to pay back the money borrowed at the agreed time frame.

When making a funding request with an agreement to pay back, note that you will have to repay your creditors both the principal amount borrowed and the interest on it. Financial institutions offer this type of funding for businesses.

Large companies combine both equity and debt in their capital structure. When drafting your business plan, decide if you want to offer both or one over the other.

Before you sell equity in exchange for funding in your business, consider if you are willing to accept not being in total control of your business. Also, before you seek loans in your funding request section, ensure that the terms of repayment are favorable.

You should set a clear timeline in your funding request so that potential investors and creditors can know what you are expecting. Some investors and creditors may agree to your funding request and then delay payment for longer than 30 days, meanwhile, your business needs an immediate cash injection to operate efficiently.

Additional Tips for Writing the Funding Request Section of your Business Plan

The funding request section is not necessary for every business, it is only needed by businesses who plan to use their business plan to secure funding.

If you are adding the funding request section to your business plan, provide an itemized summary of how you plan to use the funds requested. Hiring a lawyer, accountant, or other professionals may be necessary for the proper development of this section.

You should also gather and use financial statements that add credibility and support to your funding requests. Ensure that the financial statements you use should include your projected financial data such as projected cash flows, forecast statements, and expenditure budgets.

If you are an existing business, include all historical financial statements such as cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements .

Provide monthly and quarterly financial statements for a year. If your business has records that date back beyond the one-year mark, add the yearly statements of those years. These documents are for the appendix section of your business plan.

8. Detail Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projections

If you used the funding request section in your business plan, supplement it with a financial plan, metrics, and projections. This section paints a picture of the past performance of your business and then goes ahead to make an informed projection about its future.

The goal of this section is to convince readers that your business is going to be a financial success. It outlines your business plan to generate enough profit to repay the loan (with interest if applicable) and to generate a decent return on investment for investors.

If you have an existing business already in operation, use this section to demonstrate stability through finance. This section should include your cash flow statements, balance sheets, and income statements covering the last three to five years. If your business has some acceptable collateral that you can use to acquire loans, list it in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

Apart from current financial statements, this section should also contain a prospective financial outlook that spans the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, and capital expenditure budget.

If your business is new and is not yet generating profit, use clear and realistic projections to show the potentials of your business.

When drafting this section, research industry norms and the performance of comparable businesses. Your financial projections should cover at least five years. State the logic behind your financial projections. Remember you can always make adjustments to this section as the variables change.

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section create a baseline which your business can either exceed or fail to reach. If your business fails to reach your projections in this section, you need to understand why it failed.

Investors and loan managers spend a lot of time going through the financial plan, metrics, and projection section compared to other parts of the business plan. Ensure you spend time creating credible financial analyses for your business in this section.

Many entrepreneurs find this section daunting to write. You do not need a business degree to create a solid financial forecast for your business. Business finances, especially for startups, are not as complicated as they seem. There are several online tools and templates that make writing this section so much easier.

Use Graphs and Charts

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business. Charts and images make it easier to communicate your finances.

Accuracy in this section is key, ensure you carefully analyze your past financial statements properly before making financial projects.

Address the Risk Factors and Show Realistic Financial Projections

Keep your financial plan, metrics, and projection realistic. It is okay to be optimistic in your financial projection, however, you have to justify it.

You should also address the various risk factors associated with your business in this section. Investors want to know the potential risks involved, show them. You should also show your plans for mitigating those risks.

What You Should In The Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection Section of Your Business Plan

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section of your business plan should have monthly sales and revenue forecasts for the first year. It should also include annual projections that cover 3 to 5 years.

A three-year projection is a basic requirement to have in your business plan. However, some investors may request a five-year forecast.

Your business plan should include the following financial statements: sales forecast, personnel plan, income statement, income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and an exit strategy.

1. Sales Forecast

Sales forecast refers to your projections about the number of sales your business is going to record over the next few years. It is typically broken into several rows, with each row assigned to a core product or service that your business is offering.

One common mistake people make in their business plan is to break down the sales forecast section into long details. A sales forecast should forecast the high-level details.

For example, if you are forecasting sales for a payroll software provider, you could break down your forecast into target market segments or subscription categories.

Your sales forecast section should also have a corresponding row for each sales row to cover the direct cost or Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). The objective of these rows is to show the expenses that your business incurs in making and delivering your product or service.

Note that your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) should only cover those direct costs incurred when making your products. Other indirect expenses such as insurance, salaries, payroll tax, and rent should not be included.

For example, the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for a restaurant is the cost of ingredients while for a consulting company it will be the cost of paper and other presentation materials.

2. Personnel Plan

The personnel plan section is where you provide details about the payment plan for your employees. For a small business, you can easily list every position in your company and how much you plan to pay in the personnel plan.

However, for larger businesses, you have to break the personnel plan into functional groups such as sales and marketing.

The personnel plan will also include the cost of an employee beyond salary, commonly referred to as the employee burden. These costs include insurance, payroll taxes , and other essential costs incurred monthly as a result of having employees on your payroll.

3. Income Statement

The income statement section shows if your business is making a profit or taking a loss. Another name for the income statement is the profit and loss (P&L). It takes data from your sales forecast and personnel plan and adds other ongoing expenses you incur while running your business.

Every business plan should have an income statement. It subtracts your business expenses from its earnings to show if your business is generating profit or incurring losses.

The income statement has the following items: sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), gross margin, operating expenses, total operating expenses, operating income , total expenses, and net profit.

• Sales refer to the revenue your business generates from selling its products or services. Other names for sales are income or revenue.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) refers to the total cost of selling your products. Other names for COGS are direct costs or cost of sales. Manufacturing businesses use the Costs of Goods Manufactured (COGM) .
• Gross Margin is the figure you get when you subtract your COGS from your sales. In your income statement, you can express it as a percentage of total sales (Gross margin / Sales = Gross Margin Percent).
• Operating Expenses refer to all the expenses you incur from running your business. It exempts the COGS because it stands alone as a core part of your income statement. You also have to exclude taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Your operating expenses include salaries, marketing expenses, research and development (R&D) expenses, and other expenses.
• Total Operating Expenses refers to the sum of all your operating expenses including those exemptions named above under operating expenses.
• Operating Income refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is simply known as the acronym EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Calculating your operating income is simple, all you need to do is to subtract your COGS and total operating expenses from your sales.
• Total Expenses refer to the sum of your operating expenses and your business’ interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
• Net profit shows whether your business has made a profit or taken a loss during a given timeframe.

4. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement tracks the money you have in the bank at any given point. It is often confused with the income statement or the profit and loss statement. They are both different types of financial statements. The income statement calculates your profits and losses while the cash flow statement shows you how much you have in the bank.

5. Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a financial statement that provides an overview of the financial health of your business. It contains information about the assets and liabilities of your company, and owner’s or shareholders’ equity.

You can get the net worth of your company by subtracting your company’s liabilities from its assets.

6. Exit Strategy

The exit strategy refers to a probable plan for selling your business either to the public in an IPO or to another company. It is the last thing you include in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

You can choose to omit the exit strategy from your business plan if you plan to maintain full ownership of your business and do not plan on seeking angel investment or virtual capitalist (VC) funding.

Investors may want to know what your exit plan is. They invest in your business to get a good return on investment.

Your exit strategy does not have to include long and boring details. Ensure you identify some interested parties who may be interested in buying the company if it becomes a success.

Key Questions to Answer with Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection

Your financial plan, metrics, and projection section helps investors, creditors, or your internal managers to understand what your expenses are, the amount of cash you need, and what it takes to make your company profitable. It also shows what you will be doing with any funding.

You do not need to show actual financial data if you do not have one. Adding forecasts and projections to your financial statements is added proof that your strategy is feasible and shows investors you have planned properly.

Here are some key questions to answer to help you develop this section.

• What is your sales forecast for the next year?
• When will your company achieve a positive cash flow?
• What are the core expenses you need to operate?
• How much money do you need upfront to operate or grow your company?
• How will you use the loans or investments?

9. Add an Appendix to Your Business Plan

Adding an appendix to your business plan is optional. It is a useful place to put any charts, tables, legal notes, definitions, permits, résumés, and other critical information that do not fit into other sections of your business plan.

The appendix section is where you would want to include details of a patent or patent-pending if you have one. You can always add illustrations or images of your products here. It is the last section of your business plan.

When writing your business plan, there are details you cut short or remove to prevent the entire section from becoming too lengthy. There are also details you want to include in the business plan but are not a good fit for any of the previous sections. You can add that additional information to the appendix section.

Businesses also use the appendix section to include supporting documents or other materials specially requested by investors or lenders.

You can include just about any information that supports the assumptions and statements you made in the business plan under the appendix. It is the one place in the business plan where unrelated data and information can coexist amicably.

If your appendix section is lengthy, try organizing it by adding a table of contents at the beginning of the appendix section. It is also advisable to group similar information to make it easier for the reader to access them.

A well-organized appendix section makes it easier to share your information clearly and concisely. Add footnotes throughout the rest of the business plan or make references in the plan to the documents in the appendix.

The appendix section is usually only necessary if you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, or hoping to attract partners.

People reading business plans do not want to spend time going through a heap of backup information, numbers, and charts. Keep these documents or information in the Appendix section in case the reader wants to dig deeper.

Common Items to Include in the Appendix Section of Your Business Plan

The appendix section includes documents that supplement or support the information or claims given in other sections of the business plans. Common items you can include in the appendix section include:

• Additional data about the process of manufacturing or creation
• Additional description of products or services such as product schematics
• Additional financial documents or projections
• Articles of incorporation and status
• Backup for market research or competitive analysis
• Bank statements
• Business registries
• Client testimonials (if your business is already running)
• Copies of insurances
• Credit histories (personal or/and business)
• Deeds and permits
• Equipment leases
• Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
• Industry associations and memberships
• Images of product
• Intellectual property
• Key customer contracts
• Legal documents and other contracts
• Letters of reference
• Links to references
• Market research data
• Organizational charts
• Photographs of potential facilities
• Professional licenses pertaining to your legal structure or type of business
• Purchase orders
• Resumes of the founder(s) and key managers
• State and federal identification numbers or codes
• Trademarks or patents’ registrations

Avoid using the appendix section as a place to dump any document or information you feel like adding. Only add documents or information that you support or increase the credibility of your business plan.

Tips and Strategies for Writing a Convincing Business Plan

To achieve a perfect business plan, you need to consider some key tips and strategies. These tips will raise the efficiency of your business plan above average.

1. Know Your Audience

When writing a business plan, you need to know your audience . Business owners write business plans for different reasons. Your business plan has to be specific. For example, you can write business plans to potential investors, banks, and even fellow board members of the company.

The audience you are writing to determines the structure of the business plan. As a business owner, you have to know your audience. Not everyone will be your audience. Knowing your audience will help you to narrow the scope of your business plan.

Consider what your audience wants to see in your projects, the likely questions they might ask, and what interests them.

• A business plan used to address a company's board members will center on its employment schemes, internal affairs, projects, stakeholders, etc.
• A business plan for financial institutions will talk about the size of your market and the chances for you to pay back any loans you demand.
• A business plan for investors will show proof that you can return the investment capital within a specific time. In addition, it discusses your financial projections, tractions, and market size.

2. Get Inspiration from People

Writing a business plan from scratch as an entrepreneur can be daunting. That is why you need the right inspiration to push you to write one. You can gain inspiration from the successful business plans of other businesses. Look at their business plans, the style they use, the structure of the project, etc.

To make your business plan easier to create, search companies related to your business to get an exact copy of what you need to create an effective business plan. You can also make references while citing examples in your business plans.

When drafting your business plan, get as much help from others as you possibly can. By getting inspiration from people, you can create something better than what they have.

3. Avoid Being Over Optimistic

Many business owners make use of strong adjectives to qualify their content. One of the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing a business plan is promising too much.

The use of superlatives and over-optimistic claims can prepare the audience for more than you can offer. In the end, you disappoint the confidence they have in you.

In most cases, the best option is to be realistic with your claims and statistics. Most of the investors can sense a bit of incompetency from the overuse of superlatives. As a new entrepreneur, do not be tempted to over-promise to get the interests of investors.

The concept of entrepreneurship centers on risks, nothing is certain when you make future analyses. What separates the best is the ability to do careful research and work towards achieving that, not promising more than you can achieve.

To make an excellent first impression as an entrepreneur, replace superlatives with compelling data-driven content. In this way, you are more specific than someone promising a huge ROI from an investment.

4. Keep it Simple and Short

When writing business plans, ensure you keep them simple throughout. Irrespective of the purpose of the business plan, your goal is to convince the audience.

One way to achieve this goal is to make them understand your proposal. Therefore, it would be best if you avoid the use of complex grammar to express yourself. It would be a huge turn-off if the people you want to convince are not familiar with your use of words.

Another thing to note is the length of your business plan. It would be best if you made it as brief as possible.

You hardly see investors or agencies that read through an extremely long document. In that case, if your first few pages can’t convince them, then you have lost it. The more pages you write, the higher the chances of you derailing from the essential contents.

To ensure your business plan has a high conversion rate, you need to dispose of every unnecessary information. For example, if you have a strategy that you are not sure of, it would be best to leave it out of the plan.

5. Make an Outline and Follow Through

A perfect business plan must have touched every part needed to convince the audience. Business owners get easily tempted to concentrate more on their products than on other sections. Doing this can be detrimental to the efficiency of the business plan.

For example, imagine you talking about a product but omitting or providing very little information about the target audience. You will leave your clients confused.

To ensure that your business plan communicates your full business model to readers, you have to input all the necessary information in it. One of the best ways to achieve this is to design a structure and stick to it.

This structure is what guides you throughout the writing. To make your work easier, you can assign an estimated word count or page limit to every section to avoid making it too bulky for easy reading. As a guide, the necessary things your business plan must contain are:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Product or service description
• Target audience
• Market size
• Competition analysis
• Financial projections

Some specific businesses can include some other essential sections, but these are the key sections that must be in every business plan.

6. Ask a Professional to Proofread

When writing a business plan, you must tie all loose ends to get a perfect result. When you are done with writing, call a professional to go through the document for you. You are bound to make mistakes, and the way to correct them is to get external help.

You should get a professional in your field who can relate to every section of your business plan. It would be easier for the professional to notice the inner flaws in the document than an editor with no knowledge of your business.

In addition to getting a professional to proofread, get an editor to proofread and edit your document. The editor will help you identify grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and inappropriate writing styles.

Writing a business plan can be daunting, but you can surmount that obstacle and get the best out of it with these tips.

Business Plan Examples and Templates That’ll Save You Tons of Time

1. hubspot's one-page business plan.

The one-page business plan template by HubSpot is the perfect guide for businesses of any size, irrespective of their business strategy. Although the template is condensed into a page, your final business plan should not be a page long! The template is designed to ask helpful questions that can help you develop your business plan.

Hubspot’s one-page business plan template is divided into nine fields:

• Business opportunity
• Company description
• Industry analysis
• Target market
• Implementation timeline
• Marketing plan
• Financial summary
• Funding required

2. Bplan’s Free Business Plan Template

Bplans' free business plan template is investor-approved. It is a rich template used by prestigious educational institutions such as Babson College and Princeton University to teach entrepreneurs how to create a business plan.

The template has six sections: the executive summary, opportunity, execution, company, financial plan, and appendix. There is a step-by-step guide for writing every little detail in the business plan. Follow the instructions each step of the way and you will create a business plan that impresses investors or lenders easily.

3. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

HubSpot’s downloadable business plan template is a more comprehensive option compared to the one-page business template by HubSpot. This free and downloadable business plan template is designed for entrepreneurs.

The template is a comprehensive guide and checklist for business owners just starting their businesses. It tells you everything you need to fill in each section of the business plan and how to do it.

There are nine sections in this business plan template: an executive summary, company and business description, product and services line, market analysis, marketing plan, sales plan, legal notes, financial considerations, and appendix.

4. Business Plan by My Own Business Institute

My Own Business Institute (MOBI) which is a part of Santa Clara University's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers a free business plan template. You can either copy the free business template from the link provided above or download it as a Word document.

The comprehensive template consists of a whopping 15 sections.

• The Business Profile
• The Vision and the People
• Home-Based Business and Freelance Business Opportunities
• Organization
• Licenses and Permits
• Business Insurance
• Communication Tools
• Acquisitions
• Location and Leasing
• Accounting and Cash Flow
• Opening and Marketing
• Managing Employees
• Expanding and Handling Problems

There are lots of helpful tips on how to fill each section in the free business plan template by MOBI.

5. Score's Business Plan Template for Startups

Score is an American nonprofit organization that helps entrepreneurs build successful companies. This business plan template for startups by Score is available for free download. The business plan template asks a whooping 150 generic questions that help entrepreneurs from different fields to set up the perfect business plan.

The business plan template for startups contains clear instructions and worksheets, all you have to do is answer the questions and fill the worksheets.

There are nine sections in the business plan template: executive summary, company description, products and services, marketing plan, operational plan, management and organization, startup expenses and capitalization, financial plan, and appendices.

The ‘refining the plan’ resource contains instructions that help you modify your business plan to suit your specific needs, industry, and target audience. After you have completed Score’s business plan template, you can work with a SCORE mentor for expert advice in business planning.

6. Minimalist Architecture Business Plan Template by Venngage

The minimalist architecture business plan template is a simple template by Venngage that you can customize to suit your business needs .

There are five sections in the template: an executive summary, statement of problem, approach and methodology, qualifications, and schedule and benchmark. The business plan template has instructions that guide users on what to fill in each section.

7. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers two free business plan templates, filled with practical real-life examples that you can model to create your business plan. Both free business plan templates are written by fictional business owners: Rebecca who owns a consulting firm, and Andrew who owns a toy company.

There are five sections in the two SBA’s free business plan templates.

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Service Line
• Marketing and Sales

8. The $100 Startup's One-Page Business Plan

The one-page business plan by the $100 startup is a simple business plan template for entrepreneurs who do not want to create a long and complicated plan . You can include more details in the appendices for funders who want more information beyond what you can put in the one-page business plan.

There are five sections in the one-page business plan such as overview, ka-ching, hustling, success, and obstacles or challenges or open questions. You can answer all the questions using one or two sentences.

9. PandaDoc’s Free Business Plan Template

The free business plan template by PandaDoc is a comprehensive 15-page document that describes the information you should include in every section.

There are 11 sections in PandaDoc’s free business plan template.

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Products and services
• Operations plan
• Management organization
• Financial plan
• Conclusion / Call to action
• Confidentiality statement

You have to sign up for its 14-day free trial to access the template. You will find different business plan templates on PandaDoc once you sign up (including templates for general businesses and specific businesses such as bakeries, startups, restaurants, salons, hotels, and coffee shops)

PandaDoc allows you to customize its business plan templates to fit the needs of your business. After editing the template, you can send it to interested parties and track opens and views through PandaDoc.

10. Invoiceberry Templates for Word, Open Office, Excel, or PPT

InvoiceBerry is a U.K based online invoicing and tracking platform that offers free business plan templates in .docx, .odt, .xlsx, and .pptx formats for freelancers and small businesses.

Before you can download the free business plan template, it will ask you to give it your email address. After you complete the little task, it will send the download link to your inbox for you to download. It also provides a business plan checklist in .xlsx file format that ensures you add the right information to the business plan.

Alternatives to the Traditional Business Plan

A business plan is very important in mapping out how one expects their business to grow over a set number of years, particularly when they need external investment in their business. However, many investors do not have the time to watch you present your business plan. It is a long and boring read.

Luckily, there are three alternatives to the traditional business plan (the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck). These alternatives are less laborious and easier and quicker to present to investors.

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The business model canvas is a business tool used to present all the important components of setting up a business, such as customers, route to market, value proposition, and finance in a single sheet. It provides a very focused blueprint that defines your business initially which you can later expand on if needed.

The sheet is divided mainly into company, industry, and consumer models that are interconnected in how they find problems and proffer solutions.

Segments of the Business Model Canvas

The business model canvas was developed by founder Alexander Osterwalder to answer important business questions. It contains nine segments.

• Key Partners: Who will be occupying important executive positions in your business? What do they bring to the table? Will there be a third party involved with the company?
• Key Activities: What important activities will production entail? What activities will be carried out to ensure the smooth running of the company?
• The Product’s Value Propositions: What does your product do? How will it be different from other products?
• Customer Segments: What demography of consumers are you targeting? What are the habits of these consumers? Who are the MVPs of your target consumers?
• Customer Relationships: How will the team support and work with its customer base? How do you intend to build and maintain trust with the customer?
• Key Resources: What type of personnel and tools will be needed? What size of the budget will they need access to?
• Channels: How do you plan to create awareness of your products? How do you intend to transport your product to the customer?
• Cost Structure: What is the estimated cost of production? How much will distribution cost?
• Revenue Streams: For what value are customers willing to pay? How do they prefer to pay for the product? Are there any external revenues attached apart from the main source? How do the revenue streams contribute to the overall revenue?

Lean Canvas

The lean canvas is a problem-oriented alternative to the standard business model canvas. It was proposed by Ash Maurya, creator of Lean Stack as a development of the business model generation. It uses a more problem-focused approach and it majorly targets entrepreneurs and startup businesses.

Lean Canvas uses the same 9 blocks concept as the business model canvas, however, they have been modified slightly to suit the needs and purpose of a small startup. The key partners, key activities, customer relationships, and key resources are replaced by new segments which are:

• Problem: Simple and straightforward number of problems you have identified, ideally three.
• Solution: The solutions to each problem.
• Unfair Advantage: Something you possess that can't be easily bought or replicated.
• Key Metrics: Important numbers that will tell how your business is doing.

Startup Pitch Deck

While the business model canvas compresses into a factual sheet, startup pitch decks expand flamboyantly.

Pitch decks, through slides, convey your business plan, often through graphs and images used to emphasize estimations and observations in your presentation. Entrepreneurs often use pitch decks to fully convince their target audience of their plans before discussing funding arrangements.

Considering the likelihood of it being used in a small time frame, a good startup pitch deck should ideally contain 20 slides or less to have enough time to answer questions from the audience.

Unlike the standard and lean business model canvases, a pitch deck doesn't have a set template on how to present your business plan but there are still important components to it. These components often mirror those of the business model canvas except that they are in slide form and contain more details.

Using Airbnb (one of the most successful start-ups in recent history) for reference, the important components of a good slide are listed below.

• Cover/Introduction Slide: Here, you should include your company's name and mission statement. Your mission statement should be a very catchy tagline. Also, include personal information and contact details to provide an easy link for potential investors.
• Problem Slide: This slide requires you to create a connection with the audience or the investor that you are pitching. For example in their pitch, Airbnb summarized the most important problems it would solve in three brief points – pricing of hotels, disconnection from city culture, and connection problems for local bookings.
• Solution Slide: This slide includes your core value proposition. List simple and direct solutions to the problems you have mentioned
• Customer Analysis: Here you will provide information on the customers you will be offering your service to. The identity of your customers plays an important part in fundraising as well as the long-run viability of the business.
• Market Validation: Use competitive analysis to show numbers that prove the presence of a market for your product, industry behavior in the present and the long run, as well as the percentage of the market you aim to attract. It shows that you understand your competitors and customers and convinces investors of the opportunities presented in the market.
• Business Model: Your business model is the hook of your presentation. It may vary in complexity but it should generally include a pricing system informed by your market analysis. The goal of the slide is to confirm your business model is easy to implement.
• Marketing Strategy: This slide should summarize a few customer acquisition methods that you plan to use to grow the business.
• Competitive Advantage: What this slide will do is provide information on what will set you apart and make you a more attractive option to customers. It could be the possession of technology that is not widely known in the market.
• Team Slide: Here you will give a brief description of your team. Include your key management personnel here and their specific roles in the company. Include their educational background, job history, and skillsets. Also, talk about their accomplishments in their careers so far to build investors' confidence in members of your team.
• Traction Slide: This validates the company’s business model by showing growth through early sales and support. The slide aims to reduce any lingering fears in potential investors by showing realistic periodic milestones and profit margins. It can include current sales, growth, valuable customers, pre-orders, or data from surveys outlining current consumer interest.
• Funding Slide: This slide is popularly referred to as ‘the ask'. Here you will include important details like how much is needed to get your business off the ground and how the funding will be spent to help the company reach its goals.
• Appendix Slides: Your pitch deck appendix should always be included alongside a standard pitch presentation. It consists of additional slides you could not show in the pitch deck but you need to complement your presentation.

It is important to support your calculations with pictorial renditions. Infographics, such as pie charts or bar graphs, will be more effective in presenting the information than just listing numbers. For example, a six-month graph that shows rising profit margins will easily look more impressive than merely writing it.

Lastly, since a pitch deck is primarily used to secure meetings and you may be sharing your pitch with several investors, it is advisable to keep a separate public version that doesn't include financials. Only disclose the one with projections once you have secured a link with an investor.

Advantages of the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck over the Traditional Business Plan

• Time-Saving: Writing a detailed traditional business plan could take weeks or months. On the other hand, all three alternatives can be done in a few days or even one night of brainstorming if you have a comprehensive understanding of your business.
• Easier to Understand: Since the information presented is almost entirely factual, it puts focus on what is most important in running the business. They cut away the excess pages of fillers in a traditional business plan and allow investors to see what is driving the business and what is getting in the way.
• Easy to Update: Businesses typically present their business plans to many potential investors before they secure funding. What this means is that you may regularly have to amend your presentation to update statistics or adjust to audience-specific needs. For a traditional business plan, this could mean rewriting a whole section of your plan. For the three alternatives, updating is much easier because they are not voluminous.
• Guide for a More In-depth Business Plan: All three alternatives have the added benefit of being able to double as a sketch of your business plan if the need to create one arises in the future.

Business Plan FAQ

Business plans are important for any entrepreneur who is looking for a framework to run their company over some time or seeking external support. Although they are essential for new businesses, every company should ideally have a business plan to track their growth from time to time.  They can be used by startups seeking investments or loans to convey their business ideas or an employee to convince his boss of the feasibility of starting a new project. They can also be used by companies seeking to recruit high-profile employee targets into key positions or trying to secure partnerships with other firms.

Business plans often vary depending on your target audience, the scope, and the goals for the plan. Startup plans are the most common among the different types of business plans.  A start-up plan is used by a new business to present all the necessary information to help get the business up and running. They are usually used by entrepreneurs who are seeking funding from investors or bank loans. The established company alternative to a start-up plan is a feasibility plan. A feasibility plan is often used by an established company looking for new business opportunities. They are used to show the upsides of creating a new product for a consumer base. Because the audience is usually company people, it requires less company analysis. The third type of business plan is the lean business plan. A lean business plan is a brief, straight-to-the-point breakdown of your ideas and analysis for your business. It does not contain details of your proposal and can be written on one page. Finally, you have the what-if plan. As it implies, a what-if plan is a preparation for the worst-case scenario. You must always be prepared for the possibility of your original plan being rejected. A good what-if plan will serve as a good plan B to the original.

A good business plan has 10 key components. They include an executive plan, product analysis, desired customer base, company analysis, industry analysis, marketing strategy, sales strategy, financial projection, funding, and appendix. Executive Plan Your business should begin with your executive plan. An executive plan will provide early insight into what you are planning to achieve with your business. It should include your mission statement and highlight some of the important points which you will explain later. Product Analysis The next component of your business plan is your product analysis. A key part of this section is explaining the type of item or service you are going to offer as well as the market problems your product will solve. Desired Consumer Base Your product analysis should be supplemented with a detailed breakdown of your desired consumer base. Investors are always interested in knowing the economic power of your market as well as potential MVP customers. Company Analysis The next component of your business plan is your company analysis. Here, you explain how you want to run your business. It will include your operational strategy, an insight into the workforce needed to keep the company running, and important executive positions. It will also provide a calculation of expected operational costs.  Industry Analysis A good business plan should also contain well laid out industry analysis. It is important to convince potential investors you know the companies you will be competing with, as well as your plans to gain an edge on the competition. Marketing Strategy Your business plan should also include your marketing strategy. This is how you intend to spread awareness of your product. It should include a detailed explanation of the company brand as well as your advertising methods. Sales Strategy Your sales strategy comes after the market strategy. Here you give an overview of your company's pricing strategy and how you aim to maximize profits. You can also explain how your prices will adapt to market behaviors. Financial Projection The financial projection is the next component of your business plan. It explains your company's expected running cost and revenue earned during the tenure of the business plan. Financial projection gives a clear idea of how your company will develop in the future. Funding The next component of your business plan is funding. You have to detail how much external investment you need to get your business idea off the ground here. Appendix The last component of your plan is the appendix. This is where you put licenses, graphs, or key information that does not fit in any of the other components.

The business model canvas is a business management tool used to quickly define your business idea and model. It is often used when investors need you to pitch your business idea during a brief window.

A pitch deck is similar to a business model canvas except that it makes use of slides in its presentation. A pitch is not primarily used to secure funding, rather its main purpose is to entice potential investors by selling a very optimistic outlook on the business.

Business plan competitions help you evaluate the strength of your business plan. By participating in business plan competitions, you are improving your experience. The experience provides you with a degree of validation while practicing important skills. The main motivation for entering into the competitions is often to secure funding by finishing in podium positions. There is also the chance that you may catch the eye of a casual observer outside of the competition. These competitions also provide good networking opportunities. You could meet mentors who will take a keen interest in guiding you in your business journey. You also have the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs whose ideas can complement yours.

Exlore Further

• 12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)
• 13 Sources of Business Finance For Companies & Sole Traders
• 5 Common Types of Business Structures (+ Pros & Cons)
• How to Buy a Business in 8 Steps (+ Due Diligence Checklist)

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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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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

What is a business plan?

1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.

LLC Formation

A business plan is a document that explains what your business does, how it makes money and who its customers are. Internally, writing a business plan should help you clarify your vision and organize your operations. Externally, you can share it with potential lenders and investors to show them you’re on the right track.

Business plans are living documents; it’s OK for them to change over time. Startups may update their business plans often as they figure out who their customers are and what products and services fit them best. Mature companies might only revisit their business plan every few years. Regardless of your business’s age, brush up this document before you apply for a business loan .

» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .

This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your business offers and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.

Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.

» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps

Next up is your company description. This should contain basic information like:

Your business’s registered name.

Address of your business location .

Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.

Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.

Lastly, write a little about the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.

» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan

The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the coming years.

If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain how the financing will help your business grow and how you plan to achieve those growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity your business presents to the lender.

For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch that new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.

» MORE: How to write a successful business plan for a loan

In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

You should include the following:

An explanation of how your product or service works.

The pricing model for your product or service.

The typical customers you serve.

Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.

You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.

Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.

Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.

Include details about your sales and distribution strategies, including the costs involved in selling each product .

» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing

If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.

Accounting software may be able to generate these reports for you. It may also help you calculate metrics such as:

Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.

Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.

Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.

This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.

This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.

Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.

Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.

NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:

The best business checking accounts .

The best business credit cards .

The best accounting software .

Before the end of your business plan, summarize how your business is structured and outline each team’s responsibilities. This will help your readers understand who performs each of the functions you’ve described above — making and selling your products or services — and how much each of those functions cost.

If any of your employees have exceptional skills, you may want to include their resumes to help explain the competitive advantage they give you.

Finally, attach any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere. That might include:

Licenses and permits.

Equipment leases.

Bank statements.

Details of your personal and business credit history, if you’re seeking financing.

If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.

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We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

Here are some tips to write a detailed, convincing business plan:

Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business bank loan or professional investment, someone will be reading your business plan closely. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of approval.

Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.

Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.

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Start » startup, 5 alternatives to writing a traditional business plan.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by traditional business plans, or your business model needs a refresh, try one of these five business plan alternatives.

Starting a business without a plan is like taking a cross-country road trip without a map. You don't necessarily need a formal, traditional business plan. Many alternatives are less resource-intensive, simpler, and more flexible, making them ideal for pitch meetings.

Here are five alternatives to traditional business plans to help you get your strategy written down and ready to present.

Agile business plan

Traditional business plan methodology follows one long plan focused on a large-scale goal or strategy rather than adapting as changes occur. An agile business plan is more flexible, addressing changes by setting short-term plans based on your current needs.

An agile business plan complements a long-term strategy by focusing on immediate actions, broken down into manageable steps with deadlines. It should leverage current data and focus on both annual targets and the top company priorities, including departmental and individual objectives. You can adjust your plan based on market conditions and any changes that may arise to support your overall, long-term goals.

[Read more: 5 Steps to Adapting Your Business Plan to Stay Nimble ]

Business concept statement

A business concept statement is a summarized version of a formal business plan condensed into one to two pages. It outlines your overall plan, clarifies your solution to a consumer problem, and illustrates your business's value and market fit. A business concept statement makes it easier for businesses to understand their direction and develop a plan for a clear path forward without as much detail as a traditional business plan requires. A well-crafted business concept statement should start with a concise, one- to two-sentence summary of your idea. It should detail the specific gaps in the market and describe how your business aims to fill them.

The plan should also recap your business model, underscoring what sets your business apart. It should also include a review of your competitors and an outline of your marketing strategy.

A lean business plan aids businesses when they need to swiftly change course and update their plan as needed to stay on track with their goals.

Business model canvas

A business model canvas defines your target market and business strategy, highlighting financial details on a single page. This visual alternative is sectioned into nine parts:

• Key partners.
• Key activities.
• Key resources.
• The value proposition.
• Customer relationships.
• Customer segments.
• The cost structure.
• Revenue streams.

The business model canvas is designed to pinpoint a company's strengths and weaknesses. The left side of the canvas lists the internal operations; the middle details the value propositions, which outline customer benefits; and the right side of the canvas lists the external market and customer dynamics.

It's easy to share a business model canvas among employees and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is on the same page about company objectives and goals. Plus, it can easily be adjusted as needed to meet changing market demands.

[Read more: How to Write a Startup Business Plan ]

Lean business plan

Lean business plans focus on distinct areas of your business: your revenue generation plan, stakeholder responsibilities and deadlines, the overarching company strategy, and the strategy implementation plan. As its name suggests, this business plan doesn't require much writing. Instead, it uses short notes to highlight these specific areas of your business, helping to drive decision-making and growth.

This type of business plan is easy to follow — and relatively straightforward to create — regardless of the business's background. It enables you to closely monitor your business and its competitors. Due to its simplified nature, a lean business plan aids businesses when they need to swiftly change course and update their plan as needed to stay on track with their goals.

Startup pitch deck

A pitch deck is a visual representation, often presented using Microsoft PowerPoint or a similar presentation program, of your business model and strategy. This alternative is especially useful when pitching your business to investors or others. The visual aspect offers an enticing way to represent your company's mission and other necessary key details to aid stakeholders in making informed investment decisions.

For a pitch deck to be successful — and to keep your audience's attention — it must have a modern and sleek design reflective of your business's brand. It should be thorough, addressing all potential questions, while presenting information simply and clearly. The presentation should outline your target market's problems and your business's solution. It should also provide viewers with information about your audience, products, competitors, team, financials, and media strategy.

[Read more: How to Use AI Tools to Write a Business Plan ]

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Business Plan Alternatives

Discover innovative approaches to strategic planning with our document on Business Plan Alternatives. Explore non-traditional planning methodologies, collabo...

Business Plan Alternatives: Exploring Innovative Approaches to Strategic Planning

In the ever-evolving and dynamic business landscape, traditional business plans may not always be the most effective tool for guiding the growth and success of a company. As entrepreneurs and business owners seek more flexible and adaptable planning methodologies, the concept of "business plan alternatives" has emerged as a game-changing approach.

Understanding the Purpose of a Business Plan

Before delving into the realm of alternative planning approaches, it's essential to grasp the purpose and significance of a traditional business plan. Traditionally, a business plan serves as a comprehensive document that outlines a company's goals, strategies, and financial projections. It is often used to secure funding, attract investors, and provide a roadmap for business operations.

However, despite its long-standing reputation, the traditional business plan does have its limitations. It is often a time-consuming and resource-intensive process, requiring extensive research, analysis, and documentation. Moreover, the rapidly changing business environment makes it challenging to predict and account for all the variables that may impact a company's success.

Exploring the Need for Business Plan Alternatives

In light of these limitations, many entrepreneurs and business professionals have started exploring alternative approaches to strategic planning. These alternatives offer more flexibility, adaptability, and creativity, allowing businesses to respond to changes in the market more effectively.

The need for business plan alternatives arises from several factors. Firstly, not all businesses fit the traditional mold. Startups, particularly those in the technology sector, often face uncertainty and ambiguity, making it difficult to create a detailed and accurate business plan. Additionally, businesses operating in fast-paced and disruptive industries may find that traditional planning methods are too rigid and slow to keep up with the rapidly evolving landscape.

Furthermore, some entrepreneurs prefer to focus on iterative and experimental approaches rather than developing a comprehensive plan upfront. They believe in learning from failures and adapting their strategies based on market feedback. For these individuals, alternative planning methodologies offer a more agile and dynamic way of navigating the business landscape.

Non-Traditional Planning Approaches

In this blog post, we will explore several non-traditional planning approaches that have gained popularity among entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide. These approaches offer innovative ways to conceptualize, strategize, and execute business plans, providing a fresh perspective that challenges the conventional norms.

Lean Startup Methodology

One of the most widely recognized and influential alternatives to traditional planning is the Lean Startup methodology. This approach, popularized by Eric Ries, emphasizes rapid experimentation, validated learning, and iterative product development.

Unlike traditional business plans that focus on creating a detailed roadmap, the Lean Startup methodology encourages entrepreneurs to build a minimum viable product (MVP) and gather customer feedback early on. By leveraging a "build, measure, learn" feedback loop, businesses can quickly adapt their strategies based on real-world insights, reducing the risk of failure and maximizing chances of success.

Throughout this section, we will explore the principles, methodologies, and success stories associated with the Lean Startup methodology, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of how this alternative approach can revolutionize your strategic planning process.

Business Model Canvas

Another powerful tool in the realm of business plan alternatives is the Business Model Canvas. Developed by Alexander Osterwalder, this visual framework offers a holistic and concise representation of a company's business model, focusing on nine key building blocks.

The Business Model Canvas provides a more flexible and dynamic approach to planning by encouraging entrepreneurs to visualize and iterate on their business models. By considering various elements such as value proposition, customer segments, channels, and revenue streams, businesses can create a more comprehensive and adaptable strategy.

In this section, we will delve into the intricacies of the Business Model Canvas, explaining each building block in detail and showcasing real-life examples of successful businesses that have utilized this alternative planning approach to their advantage.

Effectuation

Effectuation, a term coined by Saras Sarasvathy, offers a unique perspective on strategic planning by focusing on the mindset and decision-making processes of successful entrepreneurs. Unlike traditional planning, which is based on a predictive approach, effectuation emphasizes entrepreneurial expertise, resourcefulness, and the ability to leverage existing means to achieve desired ends.

Throughout this section, we will explore the principles and steps involved in effectuation and how they differ from traditional planning methodologies. Additionally, we will examine case studies of businesses that have successfully utilized effectuation to navigate uncertainty, seize opportunities, and drive innovation.

Collaborative Planning Approaches

In addition to non-traditional planning methodologies, collaborative approaches to strategic planning have gained traction in recent years. These methods involve engaging multiple stakeholders, leveraging their diverse perspectives, and fostering collective intelligence to develop robust and inclusive business strategies.

Collaborative planning offers several advantages over traditional planning methods. By involving key stakeholders in the planning process, businesses can tap into a broader range of expertise, gain valuable insights, and foster a sense of ownership and commitment. Additionally, collaborative approaches promote effective communication, alignment of goals, and a shared understanding of the company's vision.

In the upcoming sections, we will explore three prominent collaborative planning approaches: Open Source Strategic Planning, Scenario Planning, and Design Thinking. We will delve into the principles, methodologies, and real-world examples associated with each of these approaches, providing you with the knowledge and tools to implement collaborative planning within your own organization.

Open Source Strategic Planning

Open Source Strategic Planning involves opening up the planning process to a diverse group of stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, and even competitors. By leveraging collective intelligence, businesses can tap into a wealth of ideas, perspectives, and expertise, fostering innovation and driving strategic decision-making.

Throughout this section, we will explore the principles and benefits of Open Source Strategic Planning, providing insights into organizations that have successfully embraced this collaborative approach.

Scenario Planning

In an increasingly uncertain and complex business environment, Scenario Planning offers a powerful tool to anticipate and prepare for various future scenarios. Unlike traditional planning, which relies on a single forecast, Scenario Planning involves developing multiple plausible scenarios and creating strategies that are robust across different futures.

By considering a range of possible outcomes and their implications, businesses can adapt their strategies to mitigate risks and seize opportunities. In this section, we will delve into the principles, methodologies, and real-world examples associated with Scenario Planning, equipping you with the tools to navigate uncertainty and make informed decisions.

Design Thinking

Design Thinking, a human-centered approach to problem-solving, has gained popularity in various domains, including strategic planning. By emphasizing empathy, collaboration, and experimentation, Design Thinking enables businesses to identify customer needs, develop innovative solutions, and create unique value propositions.

Throughout this section, we will explore the key stages and methodologies involved in Design Thinking, showcasing how businesses have leveraged this approach to drive creativity, innovation, and customer-centricity.

Technology-based Planning Tools

In today's digital era, technology plays a pivotal role in transforming the way businesses plan and strategize. Various software tools and online collaboration platforms have emerged, offering innovative solutions to streamline the planning process, enhance collaboration, and leverage data-driven insights.

In this section, we will explore two categories of technology-based planning tools: Business Planning Software and Online Collaboration Platforms. We will discuss the features, functionalities, and benefits of these tools, empowering you to select the right technology to support your planning endeavors.

Business Planning Software

Business Planning Software offers a comprehensive set of features to simplify and streamline the planning process. These tools often include templates, financial modeling capabilities, scenario analysis, and reporting functionalities, enabling businesses to create professional and data-driven business plans.

Throughout this section, we will explore popular Business Planning Software options, highlighting their key features and discussing the pros and cons of utilizing such tools.

Online Collaboration Platforms

Effective collaboration is essential for successful planning. Online Collaboration Platforms provide businesses with the means to engage stakeholders, share information, and foster collaboration in a virtual environment. These platforms often include features such as document sharing, real-time communication, project management, and version control.

In this section, we will explore popular Online Collaboration Platforms, outlining their functionalities and benefits, and providing tips for effective utilization.

Evaluating the Right Approach for Your Business

With a wide array of alternative planning approaches at your disposal, it is crucial to evaluate and select the right approach that aligns with your business goals, resources, and stage of development. In this section, we will discuss the key considerations for choosing the most suitable planning approach for your business.

We will explore factors such as alignment with business objectives, resource availability, budget constraints, and the current stage of your business. By considering these factors, you can make an informed decision and select the planning approach that best suits your unique needs.

Furthermore, we will discuss the potential benefits of combining multiple planning approaches to create a customized solution. By integrating different methodologies, businesses can leverage the strengths of each approach and develop a holistic and robust planning process.

Implementing and Monitoring the Chosen Approach

Selecting the right planning approach is just the first step. Successful implementation and continuous monitoring are crucial to ensure the effectiveness and relevance of your chosen approach. In this section, we will outline the steps to implement the chosen planning approach and provide tips for monitoring progress and evaluating its effectiveness.

We will discuss tools and techniques to track key performance indicators, gather feedback, and make data-driven adjustments to your planning process. By adopting a continuous improvement mindset, businesses can adapt their strategies and stay ahead of the competition.

Conclusion: Embracing Business Plan Alternatives for Success

In conclusion, traditional business plans are no longer the only path to success in today's rapidly changing business landscape. By exploring alternative planning approaches, businesses can foster innovation, adapt to uncertainty, and create strategies that are agile, flexible, and responsive.

In this comprehensive blog post, we have delved into various non-traditional planning methodologies, collaborative approaches, technology-based planning tools, and the process of evaluating and implementing the right planning approach for your business. By embracing these alternatives, you can unlock new possibilities, drive growth, and chart a successful course for your organization.

So, step away from the traditional norms, embrace innovation, and embark on a transformative journey of strategic planning with business plan alternatives.

Introduction to Business Plan Alternatives

In today's ever-changing business landscape, entrepreneurs and business owners are constantly seeking innovative approaches to strategic planning. Traditional business plans, while valuable in certain contexts, may not always be the most suitable tool for every business. This realization has led to the emergence of alternative planning methodologies that offer more flexibility, adaptability, and creativity.

A business plan serves as a roadmap for a company's future, outlining its goals, strategies, and financial projections. It is traditionally used to secure funding, attract investors, and guide business operations. However, the traditional business plan has its limitations. It can be time-consuming and resource-intensive to create, often requiring extensive research and documentation. Moreover, the rapidly evolving business landscape makes it challenging to predict and account for all the variables that may impact a company's success.

The need for business plan alternatives arises from several factors. Not all businesses fit the traditional mold, especially startups or those in disruptive industries. These businesses often face uncertainty and ambiguity, making it difficult to create a detailed and accurate business plan. Additionally, some entrepreneurs prefer a more iterative and experimental approach, learning from failures and adapting their strategies based on market feedback. For these reasons, alternative planning methodologies have gained traction as more agile and dynamic ways to navigate the business landscape.

In this blog post, we will explore a wide range of business plan alternatives, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of the various methodologies available. We will delve into non-traditional planning approaches, collaborative planning methods, and technology-based planning tools. By the end of this post, you will have the knowledge and insights to select the right approach for your business and drive its success.

As the need for more flexible and adaptable planning methodologies arises, non-traditional approaches to strategic planning have gained popularity among entrepreneurs and businesses. These alternative methods offer innovative ways to conceptualize, strategize, and execute business plans, challenging the conventional norms and providing fresh perspectives.

One of the most prominent non-traditional planning approaches is the Lean Startup methodology. Developed by Eric Ries, this approach emphasizes rapid experimentation, validated learning, and iterative product development. The Lean Startup methodology encourages entrepreneurs to build a minimum viable product (MVP) and gather customer feedback early on. By employing a "build, measure, learn" feedback loop, businesses can quickly adapt their strategies based on real-world insights, reducing the risk of failure and maximizing chances of success.

The Lean Startup methodology challenges the traditional notion of developing a comprehensive business plan upfront. Instead, it advocates for a more agile and customer-centric approach, where businesses continuously iterate and refine their products or services based on actual customer needs and feedback. By embracing the Lean Startup methodology, businesses can minimize waste, make data-driven decisions, and accelerate their path to success.

Numerous successful companies have adopted the Lean Startup methodology and reaped the benefits. For instance, Dropbox initially started as a simple video demonstration that gained immense interest from potential users. By using this feedback as validation, Dropbox was able to secure funding and develop its product further. The Lean Startup methodology allowed them to focus on learning from their users and refining their offering, ultimately leading to their remarkable success.

Throughout this section, we will explore the principles, methodologies, and case studies associated with the Lean Startup methodology. By understanding and implementing this alternative planning approach, businesses can navigate uncertainty, innovate efficiently, and increase their chances of achieving sustainable growth.

Another alternative planning approach that has gained significant attention is the Business Model Canvas. Developed by Alexander Osterwalder, the Business Model Canvas is a visual framework that allows businesses to outline and iterate upon their business models in a concise and comprehensive manner.

The Business Model Canvas consists of nine key building blocks that cover various aspects of a business, including customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key activities, key resources, key partnerships, and cost structure. By considering each building block and their interdependencies, businesses can create a holistic view of their business model and identify areas for improvement or innovation.

What sets the Business Model Canvas apart from traditional business plans is its emphasis on flexibility and adaptability. Rather than providing a static and detailed roadmap, the Canvas allows businesses to experiment with different configurations, iterate on their business model, and respond to market feedback and changing conditions.

One of the advantages of using the Business Model Canvas is its ability to foster collaboration and alignment within an organization. By bringing together key stakeholders, such as executives, managers, and employees, to collectively fill in the Canvas, businesses can ensure that everyone has a shared understanding of the business model and can contribute their unique perspectives and insights.

Numerous successful companies have utilized the Business Model Canvas to drive innovation and strategic decision-making. Airbnb is a notable example. By utilizing the Canvas, Airbnb was able to identify the untapped potential in the vacation rental market and redefine the way people travel and experience accommodations. The Canvas allowed them to visualize and refine their business model, leading to their exponential growth and disruption of the hospitality industry.

Throughout this section, we will delve into the intricacies of the Business Model Canvas, explaining each building block in detail and showcasing real-life examples of successful businesses that have utilized this alternative planning approach. By leveraging the Business Model Canvas, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their value proposition, target market, and revenue streams, enabling them to make informed strategic decisions and stay ahead in today's competitive business landscape.

In the realm of business plan alternatives, effectuation stands out as an approach that focuses on entrepreneurial expertise, resourcefulness, and leveraging existing means to achieve desired ends. Coined by Saras Sarasvathy, effectuation offers a different perspective on strategic planning by emphasizing the mindset and decision-making processes of successful entrepreneurs.

Unlike traditional planning approaches that rely on predictive reasoning and extensive market research, effectuation starts with the available resources, the entrepreneur's unique set of skills, and the immediate context. It embraces uncertainty and takes a more iterative and experimental approach to developing and refining business strategies.

Effectuation operates on five key principles: the bird-in-hand principle, affordable loss, the lemonade principle, the crazy quilt principle, and the pilot-in-the-plane principle. These principles guide entrepreneurs in making decisions and taking actions based on what they can control rather than trying to predict the future.

The bird-in-hand principle encourages entrepreneurs to start with their existing means and resources, leveraging what they have rather than waiting for ideal conditions or extensive resources. The affordable loss principle advises entrepreneurs to take calculated risks and only invest what they can afford to lose, avoiding excessive risk-taking that could jeopardize the overall business.

The lemonade principle encourages entrepreneurs to embrace surprises and turn unexpected challenges into opportunities. By being adaptable and open to change, entrepreneurs can creatively pivot their strategies to address emerging market needs. The crazy quilt principle emphasizes the importance of building strong networks and partnerships, leveraging the diverse skills and resources of others to create value. Finally, the pilot-in-the-plane principle highlights the need for entrepreneurs to stay in control and take personal responsibility for their actions, rather than relying solely on external market forces.

Effectuation differs significantly from traditional planning methodologies as it embraces uncertainty and encourages entrepreneurs to co-create the future through their actions. Instead of trying to predict and control the market, effectuation empowers entrepreneurs to shape and influence their business environment actively.

Numerous successful entrepreneurs have embraced effectuation and achieved remarkable results. For example, the story of Slack, the popular team collaboration tool, exemplifies the principles of effectuation. Initially developed as an internal communication tool for a gaming company, Slack gained traction and popularity through word-of-mouth referrals. Slack's founders leveraged their existing resources, focused on creating value for users, and iteratively refined their product based on customer feedback. This effectual approach allowed Slack to become one of the fastest-growing software companies in history.

Throughout this section, we will explore the concept of effectuation, its key principles, and the steps involved in applying this alternative planning approach. Additionally, we will examine case studies of businesses that have successfully utilized effectuation to navigate uncertainty, seize opportunities, and drive innovation. By adopting effectuation principles, entrepreneurs can foster a mindset of resourcefulness, adaptability, and entrepreneurial action, leading to increased chances of success in the ever-changing business landscape.

In addition to non-traditional planning methodologies, collaborative approaches to strategic planning have gained significant traction in recent years. These methods involve engaging multiple stakeholders, leveraging their diverse perspectives, and fostering collective intelligence to develop robust and inclusive business strategies.

Collaborative planning offers several advantages over traditional planning methods. By involving key stakeholders in the planning process, businesses can tap into a broader range of expertise, gain valuable insights, and foster a sense of ownership and commitment. Moreover, collaborative approaches promote effective communication, alignment of goals, and a shared understanding of the company's vision.

In this section, we will explore three prominent collaborative planning approaches: Open Source Strategic Planning, Scenario Planning, and Design Thinking. These approaches empower businesses to harness the collective wisdom and creativity of their teams, resulting in more innovative and resilient strategies.

The Open Source Strategic Planning approach challenges the notion that planning should be confined to a select group of executives or managers. Instead, it recognizes that valuable insights and ideas can come from unexpected sources. By involving a wide range of stakeholders, businesses can gather diverse perspectives, identify blind spots, and uncover new opportunities.

Open Source Strategic Planning often involves facilitated workshops, brainstorming sessions, and collaborative platforms to ensure effective participation and idea generation. By creating an inclusive and transparent planning process, businesses can foster a sense of ownership and commitment among stakeholders, leading to increased engagement and alignment.

Several organizations have successfully embraced Open Source Strategic Planning to drive innovation and achieve strategic objectives. For example, LEGO, the renowned toy company, launched the LEGO Ideas platform, which allows fans and enthusiasts to submit their design ideas for new LEGO sets. By involving their customers in the planning process, LEGO tapped into the creativity and passion of their fan base, resulting in the development of popular LEGO sets that resonated with their target market.

Throughout this section, we will explore the principles and benefits of Open Source Strategic Planning, providing insights into organizations that have successfully embraced this collaborative approach. We will also discuss strategies for effectively implementing Open Source Strategic Planning within your own organization, ensuring that you can leverage the collective intelligence of your stakeholders to drive innovation and achieve strategic goals.

In an increasingly uncertain and complex business environment, scenario planning has emerged as a powerful tool for strategic planning. Unlike traditional planning approaches that rely on a single forecast, scenario planning involves developing multiple plausible scenarios and creating strategies that are robust across different futures.

The fundamental premise of scenario planning is that the future is uncertain and unpredictable. By considering a range of possible outcomes and their implications, businesses can prepare themselves to adapt their strategies to different scenarios. This proactive approach enables businesses to mitigate risks, seize opportunities, and make informed decisions in an ever-changing landscape.

The process of scenario planning typically involves several key steps. The first step is to identify the critical uncertainties that have the potential to significantly impact the business. These uncertainties could be related to technological advancements, regulatory changes, market trends, or geopolitical shifts. Once the uncertainties are identified, multiple scenarios are developed based on different combinations of these uncertainties. These scenarios represent different possible futures, each with its own set of opportunities and challenges.

The next step is to analyze the implications of each scenario on the business. This involves assessing the potential impact on various aspects such as market demand, competition, supply chain, and financials. By understanding the potential outcomes and their implications, businesses can develop strategies that are robust and adaptive across multiple scenarios.

Scenario planning is not about predicting the future with certainty; rather, it is about building resilience and flexibility into business strategies. It allows businesses to be better prepared for a range of plausible futures and make informed decisions in the face of uncertainty. By considering a broad spectrum of possibilities, businesses can identify early warning signals, spot emerging trends, and position themselves strategically in the market.

Several organizations have successfully utilized scenario planning to navigate uncertainty and drive their success. Royal Dutch Shell, for example, has been employing scenario planning since the 1970s to anticipate and adapt to changes in the global energy landscape. By developing scenarios that explore different geopolitical, economic, and technological factors, Shell has been able to make strategic decisions that have positioned them as a leader in the energy industry.

Throughout this section, we will delve into the principles, methodologies, and real-world examples associated with scenario planning. By incorporating scenario planning into their strategic planning process, businesses can enhance their ability to anticipate change, identify strategic options, and make proactive decisions to thrive in an uncertain and dynamic business environment.

Design Thinking is a collaborative planning approach that puts human needs and experiences at the forefront of the planning process. Originating from the world of product design, Design Thinking has gained popularity as a strategic planning methodology that fosters creativity, innovation, and customer-centricity.

At its core, Design Thinking revolves around empathy, collaboration, and experimentation. It encourages businesses to deeply understand the needs and desires of their customers, challenge assumptions, and ideate creative solutions. By adopting a human-centered approach, Design Thinking enables businesses to develop products, services, and strategies that truly resonate with their target audience.

The Design Thinking process typically consists of five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. In the empathize stage, businesses seek to understand the perspective of their customers by conducting interviews, observations, and empathy exercises. This deep understanding helps businesses identify unmet needs and uncover valuable insights.

Next, in the define stage, businesses synthesize the information gathered during the empathize stage to define the problem or opportunity they aim to address. This stage involves reframing the challenge in a way that focuses on the needs and aspirations of the end-users.

In the ideate stage, businesses generate a wide range of ideas and potential solutions. This stage encourages brainstorming, free thinking, and collaboration to come up with innovative and out-of-the-box concepts. No idea is considered too wild or unrealistic during this stage, as it is about exploring possibilities and pushing boundaries.

Once a set of ideas is generated, the prototyping stage begins. This involves creating tangible representations of the ideas, such as mock-ups, sketches, or even interactive prototypes. Prototypes are used to quickly test and gather feedback from end-users, allowing businesses to refine and iterate on their ideas.

The final stage of the Design Thinking process is testing. In this stage, businesses gather feedback from end-users to evaluate the viability and desirability of the solutions. Through user testing and observation, businesses can gain valuable insights that inform further refinements and improvements.

Design Thinking encourages businesses to embrace a mindset of continuous learning, iteration, and improvement. It emphasizes the importance of rapid experimentation and feedback loops to refine ideas and create solutions that truly meet the needs of the customers.

Design Thinking has been successfully adopted by various organizations, including global companies like Apple and IBM. Apple's commitment to creating user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing products can be attributed to their strong embrace of Design Thinking principles. By deeply understanding their customers' desires, pain points, and aspirations, Apple has been able to develop groundbreaking products that have transformed entire industries.

Throughout this section, we will explore the key stages and methodologies involved in Design Thinking. We will showcase how businesses have leveraged this approach to drive creativity, innovation, and customer-centricity. By adopting Design Thinking principles, businesses can unlock new possibilities, develop user-centered solutions, and differentiate themselves in competitive markets.

Business Planning Software provides businesses with a comprehensive set of features and functionalities to simplify and streamline the planning process. These tools often include templates, financial modeling capabilities, scenario analysis, and reporting functionalities, enabling businesses to create professional and data-driven business plans.

Business Planning Software offers numerous benefits for businesses. It allows for greater efficiency and accuracy in creating and updating business plans, as it automates calculations, provides real-time data integration, and offers centralized storage for easy access. These software tools also enable businesses to perform financial projections, conduct sensitivity analyses, and generate reports that can be shared with stakeholders.

When choosing Business Planning Software, businesses should consider their specific needs, such as the complexity of their financial models, the level of customization required, and the ability to collaborate with team members. Popular Business Planning Software options include LivePlan, Bizplan, and Enloop.

Online Collaboration Platforms offer several advantages for businesses. They facilitate effective communication and collaboration among team members, regardless of their geographical location. These platforms also improve document management and version control, ensuring that everyone is working on the latest version of files. Moreover, they provide a centralized space for discussions, feedback exchange, and task management, enhancing team productivity and alignment.

When selecting an Online Collaboration Platform, businesses should consider factors such as ease of use, security features, integration capabilities with other tools, and scalability. Examples of popular Online Collaboration Platforms include Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Trello.

By leveraging Business Planning Software and Online Collaboration Platforms, businesses can enhance their planning processes, streamline collaboration, and leverage data-driven insights. These technology-based tools provide businesses with the agility, efficiency, and accuracy needed to navigate the complexities of strategic planning in today's fast-paced business environment.

With a wide array of business plan alternatives available, it is crucial to evaluate and select the right approach that aligns with your business goals, resources, and stage of development. While each alternative approach offers unique benefits, not all may be suitable for every business. Consideration of various factors will help you make an informed decision and choose the most effective planning methodology for your specific needs.

Factors to Consider

When evaluating business plan alternatives, several factors should guide your decision-making process:

Alignment with Business Objectives

Consider how well each planning approach aligns with your overall business objectives. Evaluate whether the alternative approach provides the flexibility, adaptability, and innovation necessary to achieve your goals. Ensure that the chosen methodology can support your long-term vision and strategic direction.

Resource Availability and Budget Constraints

Assess the resources available within your organization to implement and sustain the chosen planning approach. Consider the financial investment, time commitment, and expertise required. Choose an approach that is feasible within your resource constraints to ensure successful implementation and execution.

Current Stage of Business Development

The stage of your business development can influence the choice of planning approach. Startups and early-stage businesses may benefit from lean and agile methodologies, such as the Lean Startup or Design Thinking, which allow for rapid experimentation and learning. Established businesses, on the other hand, may find value in more structured and collaborative approaches, such as Open Source Strategic Planning or Scenario Planning.

Combining Approaches for a Customized Solution

In some cases, combining different planning approaches can lead to a more customized and effective solution. Integrating multiple methodologies allows businesses to leverage the strengths of each approach and address the specific needs and challenges they face. For example, combining the Lean Startup methodology with the Business Model Canvas can provide a powerful framework for innovation and business model refinement.

By combining approaches, businesses can create a unique planning process that suits their specific context, industry, and goals. However, it is important to ensure that the different methodologies align and complement each other, rather than create confusion or conflicting strategies.

Once you have selected the most suitable planning approach, the implementation and monitoring phase is crucial for success. Develop a clear action plan outlining the steps required to adopt and execute the chosen approach. Assign responsibilities, set milestones, and establish a timeline for implementation.

Monitoring the effectiveness of the chosen approach is equally important. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to evaluate the impact of the planning methodology on your business. Regularly review and analyze the data to make informed adjustments and improvements.

Continuous improvement and adaptation of the chosen approach are vital to ensure its long-term effectiveness. As your business evolves and market conditions change, be open to revisiting and refining your planning methodologies to stay ahead of the competition.

By carefully evaluating, implementing, and monitoring the chosen planning approach, businesses can maximize the benefits of business plan alternatives and drive their success in today's dynamic and competitive business landscape.

In conclusion, traditional business plans are no longer the only path to success in today's rapidly changing business landscape. As the business environment becomes more unpredictable and dynamic, exploring alternative planning approaches is essential for businesses to thrive. The alternatives we have explored in this blog post - including Lean Startup methodology, the Business Model Canvas, effectuation, collaborative planning approaches, and technology-based planning tools - offer innovative and flexible ways to strategize and drive business growth.

By embracing business plan alternatives, entrepreneurs and business owners can foster innovation, adapt to uncertainty, and create strategies that are agile, flexible, and responsive. These alternative approaches challenge the traditional norms and encourage businesses to think differently, experiment, and adapt their strategies based on real-world insights and feedback.

It is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to choosing a planning approach. Each business is unique, and the most effective methodology may vary depending on factors such as industry, stage of development, available resources, and specific goals. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the different planning approaches against these criteria and select the one that best aligns with your business objectives and constraints.

Furthermore, businesses can also consider combining different planning approaches to create a customized solution that suits their specific needs. By integrating multiple methodologies, businesses can leverage the strengths of each approach and address the complexities and challenges they face.

Implementing the chosen planning approach requires careful planning, execution, and continuous monitoring. It is important to develop an action plan, assign responsibilities, and establish a system for monitoring progress and evaluating the effectiveness of the chosen approach. Regularly review and analyze the data to make informed adjustments and improvements.

In a rapidly changing business landscape, adaptability and continuous improvement are critical. Businesses should remain open to exploring new planning methodologies, embracing emerging trends, and adapting their strategies to stay ahead of the competition.

By embracing business plan alternatives, entrepreneurs and business owners can navigate uncertainty, foster innovation, and position themselves for long-term success. The future of strategic planning lies in the ability to think creatively, collaborate effectively, and embrace change. So, step away from the traditional norms, explore the alternatives, and embark on a transformative journey of strategic planning with business plan alternatives.

Adrian Kennedy

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Business Plan Alternatives

Great business planning has a lot of moving parts. The more you can nail down things like your value proposition, your business model, and your go-to-market strategy, the easier it will be for you to be successful. There’s even that all-important detail of how your business will actually manage to turn a profit. The idea behind a business plan is to answer all of these questions in a single, relatively easy-to-read document.

But is a narrative-style business plan really the best option? To answer that question, it helps to understand the audience. Who will be reading this business plan? Will it just be investors and lenders, or is this something you’ll be showing to potential co-founders or high-value employees? What kind of document will give those people the information they need, and in the easiest-to-digest form?

Is a long-form business plan really the best document to use in all cases, or are there better options available? If so, what are they? There are two very useful instruments that can be created in much the same way as a long-form business plan, and from the same information.

The first is called an executive summary, and it’s another narrative approach to outlining the structure of your business. Executive summaries are often included as the opening section of a long-form business plan, but even as standalone documents, they are rarely longer than a couple of pages. You can think about an executive summary as a teaser, giving the reader just enough information to make them interested. For this reason, it’s often the first document you would share with a potential investor.

I’ve spent some time working in private equity, and this kind of executive summary can be extremely helpful from the investor’s point of view. When you’re an investor and you see an opportunity that seems interesting, one of your first requests is to see these “teaser documents.” There are even marketplace applications that serve to connect investors and opportunities, and embedded in the profiles of companies looking for investment are boilerplate documents like an executive summary.

The second useful document that can result from business planning is the pitch deck. If you’re going to pitch to any kind of investor — from friends-and-family to later-stage investors like venture capital firms — it’s important to have the business narrative down to its key talking points. By compressing these points down into a series of slides, it forces you to create a business narrative that is as concise, clear, and crisp as possible.

Both of the documents serve the same essential function as a long-form business plan. Unlike a long-form business plan, however, executive summaries and pitch decks can be used in a variety of situations. That versatility helps to justify the time they take to create. Creating a narrative business plan is a big investment of time, and nine times out of ten, I’d argue that it’s just not worth the hassle.

When you’re starting or growing a business, your time is already spread thin. A traditional business plan might only be seen by a single investor, while an executive summary or pitch deck can be easily shared with a wide variety of potential investors, partners, lenders, or potential employees. For me, the choice of where to invest my time, energy, and effort are obvious.

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The Six Best Alternatives To The Traditional Business Plan

There are many ways to start a business, and the traditional business plan is not the only option. In fact, some schools of thought argue that it is even detrimental to innovation. What you need is a plan for your idea, not a template for something someone else has created. With this in mind, here are six alternatives to the traditional business plan that you can consider.

The traditional business plan

The traditional business plan is a detailed document that outlines a company’s objectives, strategies, and resources. It’s often used as the foundation for securing funding from investors and other lenders. The problem? When these objectives or strategies do not work out as planned in the business plan, it may be difficult to change them without the original document. As a result, the usefulness of the business plan has declined in recent years.

Alternative one: prototype

Many startups now design a rough prototype of their product or service to test the idea before investing much time and money. The prototype may not be perfect, but it can be used to validate an idea and get feedback from potential customers.

Alternative two: white-paper

A white paper is a detailed report that focuses on a specific subject, typically for the purpose of educating readers about the topic. In the business world, white papers are used as a lead generation tool. The goal of a white paper is to educate potential customers about an issue in order to get them to take some action, like purchasing your product or service or enrolling in your course. A well-written white paper can be used to generate leads, and it’s also an effective way of getting people excited about your brand or product before you launch – which is why they’re so popular among startups.

So instead of writing up a traditional plan that outlines all the goals and objectives you want to reach in the next year (or five years), write a detailed document that educates your target market on a specific subject matter while at the same time promotes your company’s unique value proposition.

Alternative three: pitch deck

Pitch decks have replaced business plans for many startups. They are concise, easy to understand and contain all the information a VC or investor would need to make an investment decision.

Recently, there has been a trend of using digital pitch decks on websites like Slideshare and Made. These tools allow you to upload your company’s presentation in one location and share it with potential investors in one click. Furthermore, they offer many features, such as embedding videos, sharing slides on social media, adding notes and annotations, having public or private viewings of the deck and much more.

Alternative four; lean methodology

Lean methodology is a technique used by many startups to develop products. It is based on the idea of minimizing waste and maximizing profit. Lean methodologies can be applied to any type of project, but they are especially useful for developing new products or services. The goal of lean methodology is to find a product that people need and then sell that product as fast as possible.

Alternative five. Minimum Viable Product

One alternative to traditional business planning is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This technique is often used in Silicon Valley and was popularized by Steve Blank. The project is created with a bare-bones version of what you want, then it’s pushed out to your potential customers who give feedback about what you should do next.

The MVP technique involves doing everything in the most basic way possible and then reviewing customer reactions to see if there are any missing features that need to be added. It doesn’t cost much money and it allows for quick feedback on what people want from your product or service. When you’re finished with this, you’ll have a more complete idea of what problems need to be solved and how people would like them solved.

Alternative six. Lean Startup Methodology

The Lean Startup methodology was created by Eric Ries, an entrepreneur and author, who found that startups were failing because they were not addressing the market need. The Lean Startup methodology is a four-step process:

1. Build a minimum viable product (MVP)

2. Validate the idea through customer feedback

3. Adjust accordingly to get to your goal

4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you’ve achieved your goal or are satisfied with the progress made

This is an excellent alternative for bootstrapping businesses because it allows them to quickly address any problems with the product before moving forward. It also helps them avoid developing products that have no potential for success due to bad market research or unmet needs.

You can use these six alternatives to restructure your business plan if necessary or formalise your business ideas. These are excellent options for businesses of any size or stage of development – from start-ups to established companies.

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Creative Membership Level Names: How to Name Your Subscription Tiers

Table of Contents

• 1 What Are Membership Level Names?
• 2.1 Paid Member Subscriptions Pro
• 3.1 1. Price/Term-Based Membership Levels
• 3.2 2. User Type-Based Membership Levels
• 3.3 3. Content Delivery Type-Based Membership Levels
• 3.4 4. Tiered/Content Access Membership Levels
• 3.5 5. Supporter-Based Membership Levels
• 3.6 6. Interest-Based Membership Levels
• 4.1 Focus on the Differences In Your Plans
• 4.2 Think About Your Audience
• 4.3 Create a Clear Hierarchy (for Tiered Membership Levels)
• 4.4 Nudge People Towards a Certain Plan
• 5.1 Paid Member Subscriptions Pro

Struggling to come up with creative membership level names for your membership community? Or should you even be using creative membership tier names in the first place? Is it better to just keep things simple and straightforward?

When you’re building a membership website, coming up with your plan names can be a tricky subject.

Don’t worry – we’re here to help.

In this post, we’re going to dig into everything that you need to know about naming your membership levels. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What membership level names are and why they matter;
• Six different approaches to naming your plans, including some examples of creative membership level names;
• How to come up with your own tier names.

If you’re using Paid Member Subscriptions to make a membership site, this post will help you name your subscription plans. And even if you’re not, you’ll still find plenty of useful information to help you make a better membership website.

Let’s dig in!

What Are Membership Level Names?

With a membership website , you allow users to register on your site and become “members”. They could become members to access exclusive content , support your site, get access to one-on-one coaching, or pretty much anything else.

The key thing is that, on most membership sites, not all memberships are created equal – you typically have different “tiers” or “levels” of membership.

Different users might get access to more content, more features, more one-on-one access, etc. Or, you might have different payment terms for the same basic plan, such as offering monthly and annual payments.

Well, each of those different “tiers” needs a name so that you can differentiate them, and that’s what membership level names are.

Why Do Membership Level Names Matter?

How you name your membership levels matters for a few reasons.

The first is basic clarity. Just by looking at the name, you want people to have a good idea of what it offers. For example, if one membership works on annual billing and the other on monthly billing, you want to make that clear with your naming structure.

The second is branding. For a lot of websites, membership level names offer a fun way to add branding to the site – we’ll look at some real-world examples of this in the next section.

Finally, membership tier names are also important from a psychological conversion optimization perspective. We’ll talk about this later on in the post, but the basic idea is that membership names can push or pull subscribers toward certain plans, which is important if you’re trying to maximize your revenue.

For example, would you rather be a “Basic Member” or an “Elite Member”? Taken in a vacuum, most people would rather be elite than basic.

Of course, there’s more to convincing people to join than just the name – the pricing and value matter, too. But your names do play a key role in communicating value and hierarchy to your members, which is why it’s important to get them right.

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Six Different Approaches to Subscription Plan Names + Real Examples

There are a lot of different approaches that you can use to name your subscription plans. Some are creative, while others are straightforward. We’ll talk about how to pick the right approach for your community in the next section, but first let’s just go over what your different options are, along with some real-world examples of each.

1. Price/Term-Based Membership Levels

Let’s start at the beginning with one of the simplest membership level naming conventions – naming your levels based on the price and payment term.

Typically, you’ll use this when your plans have the exact same access/features, but the only difference is the payment term.

For example, with Tennis TV, you just get two membership plan options:

With Babbel, you get more options, with each named after the number of months that you get access:

Common options here are names like:

• Annual/Annually
• X months (e.g. 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc.)

There’s nothing really creative about this structure, but the names make it very clear what subscribers get for their money.

2. User Type-Based Membership Levels

User type membership levels are subscription plans where each plan is targeted towards a specific type of user or group of users. Common examples are:

For example, Spotify offers four different membership plans, each named after the type of user or users that the plan is focused on:

Apple Music uses almost the exact same structure, though it lacks the Duo plan and it offers the Voice plan:

Or, if you sell to both individuals and businesses, you could use a structure like this:

This type of naming structure can be especially useful if you sell both individual and group membership plans because it instantly lets people know which option is right for their situation.

3. Content Delivery Type-Based Membership Levels

If you offer different ways to consume content that vary between plans, using a content delivery type-based membership naming convention can be a good naming convention to quickly tell subscribers how they’ll be able to consume content with each plan.

You’ll see this structure a lot with media companies and news organizations. For example, the Wall Street Journal offers membership levels for:

• Print + Digital

These names certainly aren’t creative, but they do quickly let people know how they’ll be able to consume content with each plan.

You can also use this naming convention for video or audio content. For example, maybe you offer video content, but one membership plan only gets people access to HD content while the other offers 4K content.

4. Tiered/Content Access Membership Levels

Many membership sites use tiered membership levels. These are configurations where each level of membership gets access to different features, content, privileges, etc.

Unlike the previous membership naming structures, tiered membership levels open the door to a lot of creativity because you can use pretty much any name for each tier ( which isn’t the case for some other naming conventions ).

With that being said, you do still typically want to incorporate two details into your tiered naming convention:

• You should make the names relevant to your niche. This helps with branding.
• Even if you’re being creative, you still want to highlight the hierarchy. So your top-tier plan should be “better” than your entry-level plan. We’ll talk about this in more detail later on .

Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) is a great example of creative membership level names.

At first, the names seem pretty generic. After all, “Premium” and “Elite” are pretty common terms. But the magic is the fact that Going is focused on helping people find cheap airfare deals.

So instead of being generic, “Premium” and “Elite” are actually creative terms that line up with the fare classes that many airlines use.

On the other hand, you don’t always need to be creative, and a lot of brands go for more “traditional” tiered membership level names like the following:

This approach can be a good option if you’re in a more “traditional” niche or if your audience tends to be more traditional.

5. Supporter-Based Membership Levels

Supporter-based membership levels can be a great option for fan-based membership communities . That is, where the membership community is based around supporting a certain artist, typically with different perks based on the membership level.

For that reason, you’ll see this type of naming convention on a lot of Patreon membership communities, though you can use it with your own self-hosted community as well.

For example, Data School offers a supporter-based naming structure that also brings in some elements of tiered memberships:

This approach also makes a great option for non-profits that rely on membership support. For example, the Smithsonian calls its members “Friends of the Smithsonian” and they are grouped into specific member role categories.

These are descriptive names that refer to the supporters themselves:

6. Interest-Based Membership Levels

Finally, another common membership tier naming convention is offering interest-based membership levels.

This approach is useful if you offer different plans that are each focused on a specific topic/interest.

For example, TradersFly offers separate membership plans all based around different areas of investing. To differentiate those different subscription plans, they name each plan based on its topic:

How to Come Up With Your Own Membership Level Names

To finish things out, let’s talk about how you can come up with subscription plan names for your own membership community.

Focus on the Differences In Your Plans

Before you can name your subscription tiers, you need to have a really clear idea of the differences in your plans. You probably already know these differences, but it helps to write them down just to put it into words.

Once you have a clear picture of the differences between your plans, you should already have a good idea of what type of membership level naming convention to use.

For example, if the only difference between your plans is the billing term, you should probably just use a simple price/term-based membership convention so that your members can intuitively know the difference.

If you have two plans with identical features and one plan offers monthly access and the other offers yearly access, it’s needlessly confusing to come up with special names for them – “Monthly” and “Annual” work just fine.

On the other hand, if you offer tiered plans with different features, then you can get more creative with your names.

Think About Your Audience

The next step in developing your own names is to think about your audience.

Who your members are will play a big role in whether you should keep things simple or use more creative and branded membership levels.

If you’re in a creative space with tiered membership levels, then you should probably come up with creative membership level names to reinforce your branding and connect with your members.

On the other hand, if you’re in a very serious space, then you might want to avoid creative names and just stick with something simple like Basic → Intermediate → Advanced.

Create a Clear Hierarchy (for Tiered Membership Levels)

If you offer tiered membership levels, it’s important that your naming structure follows a natural progression from the most basic tier to the most advanced tier to illustrate the hierarchy of your plans.

Here’s an extreme example to show why this is important:

Let’s say you have three membership levels:

• Tier 1 – basic features.
• Tier 2 – everything in tier 1 plus new features.
• Tier 3 – everything in tiers 1 and 2 plus new features.

Well, it would be very confusing if you named your tiers like this:

• Tier 1 – Silver.
• Tier 2 – Bronze.
• Tier 3 – Gold.

Everyone knows that silver is higher than bronze, so it would confuse your members if the naming hierarchy was off.

Of course, in the real world, your example probably won’t be that obvious, especially if you’re coming up with your own creative names.

This again ties in with knowing your audience…

It’s not necessarily essential that a random person can see the hierarchy in your plan names. But it is essential that someone in your target audience understands the hierarchy.

For example, if you have a membership community built around cricket (the sport), you could use cricket-related terminology for your membership level names. The hierarchy might not be clear to people who don’t understand the sport – but as long as cricket fans can understand it, that’s totally fine.

Nudge People Towards a Certain Plan

As we mentioned earlier, one reason that membership level names are important is because of the psychology behind them.

For tiered membership plans, you can use the naming structure to push people towards a certain plan.

Let’s look at an example to illustrate the point.

Say you have three different membership levels – tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3.

Let’s say you’re primarily using tier 1 as decoy pricing . That is, you don’t really want people to sign up for tier 1 – you’re mainly using it to push people towards tier 2.

Well, your membership level names can help reinforce that decoy effect by making tier 2 seem more desirable.

Maybe you have a site that teaches people how to play American football. You might name your plans:

• Practice squad

No one wants to be on the practice squad because those people aren’t on the “real” team. So by structuring your plans like this, you’re reinforcing the decoy effect and further nudging people towards tier 2.

We’re not saying that the name alone will push people towards tier 2. But if you’ve already set up the pricing structure and features in a way to nudge people towards tier 2, adding the naming convention on top can further reinforce what you’re trying to do and make your efforts more effective.

Create the Perfect Names for Your Membership Levels

If you want your membership site to be successful, your membership tier names are important.

How you’ve structured your community and plans will play a key role in how you name your membership tiers.

If you offer a single feature set with different billing terms, you’ll want to keep things simple and just use term-based membership names. But if you offer tiered memberships, you can spice things up with creative membership level names that help you connect with your target audience.

With the examples and tips in this post, you should now have the knowledge to pick the perfect names for your site.

If you’re still in the early stages of planning your membership community, we also have lots of guides that can help you figure out the technical details of running a membership site – check out these posts to get started:

• How to start a membership site
• Tips for choosing the best membership site software
• How to build a membership site on WordPress
• How to create a video-based membership site

Do you still have any questions about membership level names or creating a membership website? Let us know in the comments!

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18 Clever Pricing Plan Names (And How to Choose Yours)

• July 31, 2022

If you’re like most people, coming up with pricing plan names is not at the top of your list of fun things to do. In fact, it can be downright daunting. But it doesn’t have to be! With a little creativity and some inspiration from real-world examples, you can come up with clever pricing plan names that will set your business apart from the competition.

Pricing Plan Names

Pricing plans are typically named according to the features they include or the target market they are meant for. For example, a company might have a “basic” plan for individual users and a “pro” plan for businesses.

The names of pricing plans can also be used to convey the value proposition of the product. For example, a company might have a “free” plan for basic users and a “premium” plan for power users.

SaaS Pricing Page Examples

Most software as a service (SaaS) companies price their offerings based on tiers.

Pricing your software doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, using a simple pricing structure can be the easiest way to help your potential customers understand how much they’ll spend. By breaking down the cost into manageable chunks, you can give them a clear picture of what they’re getting for their money.

Pricing plans that are simple and easy to understand are important best practices. If your potential customers have a hard time understanding which plan to choose or how much it will cost, you’ll have a harder time converting them into paying customers.

Your pricing can make or break your company and is a key part of your revenue growth. However, it’s often the most overlooked aspect of your strategy.

Most startup founders tend to base their pricing structure on competitors, making small tweaks here and there.

Pricing pages are often overlooked by marketers.

At my previous company, two of the main drivers of revenue were:

• Improvements to pricing strategy
• Improvements to pricing page design

We adjusted our pricing and strategy, which dramatically increased our overall revenue.

The design of our pricing page had a significant impact on conversion rates, with more visitors opting for annual plans rather than monthly ones.

So, if, like many SaaS businesses, your pricing page has been ignored for a while, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’ll share 18 of the best examples of effective and well-designed pricing pages we’ve come across.

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

The best time to update your pricing page was yesterday. The second best time is TODAY.

If you’re looking for some inspiration on how to design your own SaaS pricing page, these examples are some of the best in the business. Take a look and see what you can learn from these amazing examples!

1. MarketMuse 2. Sortly 3. SparkToro 4. Buffer 5. The New Yorker 6. Mailchimp 7. OneFleet 8. Zapier 9. ConvertKit 10. Ahrefs 11. Notion 12. Jira 13. Slack 14. Fellow 15. Booksy 16. FLG 17. GroundHogg 18. GoSquared

SaaS Pricing Plan Names That Convert

As a copywriter, it makes sense that I should talk about the importance of using the right words to name your price packages. After all, words can be powerful weapons that persuade your audience to buy from you.

There is no one right way to write pricing plan names.

Each company will have its own specific terminology, and this will reflect the tone and voice used throughout your marketing materials.

If you want to maintain a consistent tone of voice with your buyers, it’s important to use the same language throughout your content. Using business jargon in a friendly and relatable conversation can be jarring and off-putting for your buyer.

Why SaaS Pricing Names Matter

By clearly communicating the hierarchy of your price plans to potential customers, you can show them the value of each tier. This can help them decide which plan is the best fit for them.

Because that’s ultimately what you’re offering – something of value.

The different plans should be named in a way that communicates the value of each tier. You can think of each price level as a club, where each appeals to a different type of customer.

The goal is to make the potential customer want to join the most expensive “club”, without making the lower-priced options seem worthless.

Examples of Effective SaaS Pricing Names

Recently, Freshbooks decided to take a fresh approach to its pricing structure. They removed the tree-themed names and replaced them with clear, transparent titles.

Look at their new pricing page.

Now compare it to the old one.

This new naming structure helps people who may not be familiar with tree types and how they are related to these pricing tiers. Additionally, it’s more in line with the language we use to describe a software company.

Instead of the old “Mighty Oak” which was the most expensive plan, Freshbooks now offers a more customizable service option. The name suggests that the buyer can choose the features that best suit their needs.

That’s far more effective (and easier) than trying to pitch an oak tree to an accounting department of a large corporation.

How to Name Product Tiers

When it comes to naming your product tiers, I prefer to keep things as simple as possible. You can simply use letters and numbers for their names.

• Intermediate
• Package 1 / Plan A
• Package 2 / Plan B
• Package 3 / Plan C

You can also have tiers based on the size of the products.

You can also use plant and animal life to name your product tiers. For example, you could name them according to how quickly customers want results.

In which case, you might be able to use the speed of animals like:

You can also use  growth tiers, in this case, the size of a plant:

You can also go with a more professional tone:

Product Attributes for Naming Product Tiers

One thing to consider is that product tiers may change over time. If you define your tiers based on a product attribute, make sure to choose an attribute that is unlikely to change.

For instance, in gasoline, it is very common to have the octane in the tier levels, like how Shell does it:

• Shell FuelSave 95
• Shell FuelSave 98

Coming up with names for your product’s different pricing levels can be a real headache. You’ll want to offer customers a few choices, but you don’t want to overwhelm them.

And on top of that, they should sound good!

M odifiers can be especially useful when you first start your business. After some time has passed, you may realize that you need to create a plan that falls somewhere in between your original plans.

Let’s imagine starting with three different plans:

Now maybe you realize that the $50 Premium plan is too far away from the $100 Elite plan and you need something in between.

You can create a new tier of service, but giving it a different title doesn’t do enough on its own. This is when modifiers come in, like say “Premium Pro”.

Examples of SaaS Pricing Names

The tiered pricing of Zoom is simple yet effective.

Steer clear of the words “Basic” or “Standard” in paid subscriptions. Unless the package is really basic, it doesn’t give your customers a good feeling.

• Basic or Lite
• Professional

Precious metals are a great way to represent value for your tiers:

American Express uses precious metals in its credit card tiers but they can get a little confusing with:

• Platinum Credit Card
• Platinum Reserve
• Platinum Card

Other than precious metals, you can also use gemstones to denote different levels of your product tiers, as Amway does. This creates a clear visual hierarchy for your customers and helps them understand the value of each level.

• Double diamond, triple diamond, founders diamond, etc.

In the banking industry, these are the most common pricing tiers:

Priority members typically have access to priority customer service, Premier members may get exclusive offers and invitations, while Privilege members may get special rates on products. Private members usually get a dedicated account manager and other personalized services.

If you’re looking for clever pricing plan names, check out our examples of real-world pricing plans to help inspire your own. With a little creativity and some inspiration from these examples, you can come up with clever pricing plan names that will set your business apart from the competition.

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9 best hubspot alternatives for content marketing in 2024.

Irina Tanase

Aug 12, 2024

No credit card required!

Hubspot is a comprehensive platform with a wealth of tools and features. However, many of these features can be overwhelming and downright unnecessary for many marketing managers and content agencies. And when the costs are proportionally high for what you actually use, it makes sense to explore HubSpot alternatives.

So whether you’re looking for content marketing tools for your in-house team or social media management tools for agencies , let’s look at some options that can meet your team’s specific needs (with fewer onboarding headaches and less breaking the bank).

Why you should look for an alternative to HubSpot

HubSpot organizes its features into six hubs: marketing, sales, service, content, operations, and commerce. Marketing managers and agencies often look for alternatives to HubSpot, especially because content collaboration features are stronger on other platforms. Other top reasons include improved control over client workflows, smoother integrations with social media, and, of course, better value for that monthly subscription.

Let’s see how Hubspot measures up when it comes to three of the most important factors in a content marketing or social media tool.

Planning in HubSpot happens via the marketing calendar , as part of the Marketing Hub. The calendar is where you plan all of your campaigns, as well as tactical initiatives and smaller campaign tasks. Each of these is called an event, and you can use various calendar views to sort and filter as you please.

The marketing calendar is only available with the Professional and Enterprise tiers, which can get costly. The Professional tier, for example, starts at $890/month for three seats.

Collaboration

A lot of HubSpot’s collaboration features live in the collaboration sidebar (also only available with the Professional or Enterprise plans). From here, you can comment on assets, review tasks, and bring your team together around the marketing calendar. However, there are several limitations to consider.

The ability to leave comments depends on being assigned a paid seat and on the format you’re working with. Forms, emails, and specific campaign elements are included, while blogs and social media posts are not. There’s also no option for adding annotations or suggestions straight to the text.

Approvals also happen in the collaboration sidebar. The type of content you can approve (or assign others to approve) depends on your plan. For example, you’ll need the Enterprise tier to do email approvals and “Draft only” permissions for social posts.

Social media publishing is limited to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

HubSpot has no native multi-level approval workflow. So if you need multiple stakeholders to approve something, it’s going to involve workarounds.

Pricing: Tiers and prices differ from hub to hub, but for marketing, plans start at €15/user/mo, billed yearly (and they include a 14-day free trial). The Free Tools tier stays free forever and includes access to essential features from all six hubs.

Here’s why marketers should consider a marketing automation alternative to HubSpot

• Cost and feature set: Some users upgrade in order to gain access to certain features, but they also end up paying for plenty they don’t use.
• Complexity: Making true use of everything HubSpot has to offer requires energy and time, in amounts not everyone is likely to have.
• Reporting: This feature is very, very limited with the free plan and the reporting add-on is $200/month.

1. Planable – best for content collaboration and approvals

Planable’s social media management features for collaborative content creation

Planable is a social media and marketing automation platform that helps teams plan, execute, and measure marketing strategies from a single streamlined dashboard. You can schedule posts for Instagram , Threads , Facebook , Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google My Business, TikTok, and Pinterest. But one of the best parts is Universal Content , the feature bundle that gathers all your other content in the same place (be it ads, blogs, press releases, or email marketing).

Planable is the best among HubSpot alternatives because it was created for collaboration. You can add real-time comments, annotations, and clear text suggestions in context. Approvals are streamlined too: you customize multi-level approval layers and easily set custom roles or permissions. It’s a breeze to get clients in the loop or build mock-ups, but you can also keep posts and comments internal until everything is ready.

The calendar is your home base. You schedule and reschedule with a simple drag-and-drop, while labels, custom views, and color-coded labels sort everything to your liking. Each workspace has its own media library and preferred posting times.

Content calendar in Planable

If inbound marketing is your focus, look no further than Universal Content. You can plan everything in the same place, always with rich text and the option to embed images, GIFs, tweets, and YouTube videos.

Real-time comments are a super-useful feature, especially since accurate previews are always on hand. You never have to chase down feedback via email again. Invite teams to add suggestions and annotations (GIFs and attachments included!), but also keep everything organized by brand or client in dedicated workspaces.

Collaboration on a blog post in Planable

Feedback gets even smoother with the post activity history plus the option to revert changes as needed. The mobile app lets you take everything on the road, and its notifications (or emails) efficiently ping everyone who’s contributing.

You get to define exactly what approval workflows look like for each workspace: none, optional, mandatory, or multi-level.

Multi-level approval flow in Planable

Mock-up pages match each social media platform , and there’s the option to automatically schedule posts after approval. Every comment and suggestion becomes its own little task. You easily mark feedback as resolved and that’s it! Tiny task, done.

Pricing: You can schedule 50 posts on the free plan, which has access to most features. Tiers start at $33/user/mo, billed yearly.

Drawbacks: You can’t publish to websites since the tool doesn’t yet have any direct integrations with CMS platforms and there’s no social listening.

Planable vs HubSpot

• HubSpot places features that are crucial for social and content teams (marketing calendar, collaboration sidebar, blog comments) behind the hefty paywall involved with upper tiers. With Planable, all these features are included from the free plan upwards.
• Planable makes collaboration easy for any type of written content. Comments, annotations, and suggestions are available regardless of format. Permissions for them can be assigned to anyone (stakeholder, client, external collaborator), without the need for a paid seat.
• Approval is a critical stage of the content workflow and often involves at least one external contributor. Hubspot’s pay-per-seat model isn’t ideal here. Planable’s approvals are easy to set up and customize. The multi-level version gets you the green light from multiple people with no fuss.

Takeaway: Planable doesn’t just bring great marketing automation capabilities. It streamlines your agency workflow by organizing all your content, for and beyond the socials, in a calendar that’s built for smooth collaboration and approval. If your growing agency or marketing department values using an intuitive tool that adds only the good features (and by “ adds “, I don’t mean “ exclusively to an expensive plan “), then you can’t go wrong with Planable.

2. Wrike – best for marketing automation with a CRM system

Wrike is a project management tool that helps sales and marketing teams set up automated workflows and measure their impact, all with simple but mighty CRM software in the mix. It also includes campaign planning tools, asset production features, and detailed analytics that integrate with Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

Key features

• Intuitive workflow automation for everything from work requests to final approvals
• Task, project, and resource management tools geared toward increasing productivity while avoiding burnout
• Integrations with more than 400 of the most frequently-used apps, plus the option to go for custom integrations with thousands more

Pricing: There’s a free plan with a limit of 200 active tasks and a 14-day free trial for all the other tiers, which start at $9.80/user/mo, billed yearly.

Drawbacks: Setting up Wrike isn’t exactly intuitive for new users, plus the UI can make the wealth of tools and customization options feel overwhelming.

3. Sprout Social – best for influencer marketing

Sprout Social is a social media management platform that focuses on engagement, social listening, and helping marketing teams leverage their relationships with influencers. It’s got integrated customer relationship management tools for the socials, all with a focus on providing context info that helps give people a positive brand experience.

• Social commerce solutions that integrate product and customer info into social workflows
• Engagement tools that help users prioritize messages via sentiment detection (crisis notifications included)
• A strong social listening bundle with sentiment research, influencer recognition, trend identification, and crisis management

Pricing: Tiers start at $199/user/mo billed yearly, and three of four plans come with a 30-day free trial.

Drawbacks: Some users say it’s difficult to scale up, and that there are some scheduling issues, especially for LinkedIn.

4. Planoly – best for creating and scheduling visual content

Planoly is a social media scheduler that was developed for visual-forward platforms. It excels at planning for Instagram and Pinterest, but also covers TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Marketing and sales teams can benefit from using Planoly especially if their focus is on Instagram marketing.

• Linkit, a powerful link-in-bio tool for monetizing Instagram accounts via a shoppable gallery
• Social media scheduling for seven platforms, with simple repurposing and strong hashtag management
• Creator tools including content editing, a Canva integration, plus plenty of templates and post ideas

Pricing: Plans start at $14/mo, billed annually, and all three have a 7-day free trial.

Drawbacks: Planoly doesn’t support Google My Business, and users report glitches with scheduled posts (especially photos, videos, and carousels). It also lacks the marketing automation features you’ll find on other platforms.

5. HeyOrca – best for basic social media scheduling

HeyOrca is a social media scheduler that was purpose-built for social marketing agencies but also caters to non-profits, faith-based organizations, and small businesses in general. When you send clients a link to the calendar, it lets you customize the branding for an extra-professional look. Plus, there’s an intuitive interface and reliable customer support.

• Community management via a social inbox that lets you filter comments by account, sort them, and save the stock replies you use most
• Scheduling for social media that covers Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, and Pinterest
• Analytics that stay client-friendly, with the option to automate scheduled reports or grant direct access to the dashboard (complete with custom user permissions)

Pricing: All three plans have a 14-day free trial. After that, tiers start at $29/calendar/mo, billed yearly. Users are unlimited, but plans require a minimum purchase of five calendars.

Drawbacks: Unfortunately, HeyOrca is not a super-versatile tool beyond the calendar. If you also need social listening or ways to manage other types of content, it’s probably not your best bet.

6. ActiveCampaign – best CRM software with email automation

ActiveCampaign does email and marketing automation really well. It organizes its suites of tools by size of business (solopreneurs, small and medium businesses, enterprises) and by industry (agencies, eCommerce businesses, education, SaaS, healthcare, travel, non-profit, etc.).

The team behind ActiveCampaign is focused on delivering marketing automation software that has similar features to HubSpot but at a fraction of the cost. Extra automation features you won’t find on HubSpot include advanced segmentation, unlimited automations, split testing, and the ability to see everything on an automation map. All in all, a great HubSpot CRM alternative.

• Marketing automation with split and conditional actions, site tracking, and predictive sending
• Contact management with data-driven segmentation, lead management, and personalized dynamic content
• CRM that covers sales pipelines, task management, and much more

Pricing: You can enjoy the free trial for 14 days, then plans start at $15/mo, billed yearly, with 50% off for the first three months.

Drawbacks: Free customer support over the phone is not available with the lower tiers, and some users report waiting weeks to hear back when submitting a ticket via email. Also, automation can sometimes get glitchy.

7. Cloud Campaign – best for white-labeled social media management

Cloud Campaign is a social media marketing platform that allows agencies to deliver white-labeled solutions to their clients. Two of the three available pricing plans include the option to create a branded social media service that nourishes an agency’s ability to scale efficiently.

This tool also has enterprise-level hosting that lets you embed its social capabilities into larger SaaS products. Beyond marketing agencies and large companies, it’s got plans and feature suites tailored to freelancers, consultants, and small creative studios.

• White-labeling that pairs Cloud Campaign software with your agency’s brand (and includes the logo, name, colors, domain, reports, etc.)
• An integrated social inbox that consolidates conversations across brands and accounts
• Fully-branded, interactive reporting that’s integrated with Google Analytics and Facebook Ads

Pricing: There’s the option to schedule a demo, as well as a 14-day free trial. Then plans start at $41/mo, billed annually.

Drawbacks: Onboarding new people can be a bit of a headache. Multiple users mention issues with scheduling content to LinkedIn and Instagram (especially video).

8. Zoho CRM – best for customizable customer care

Zoho CRM is part of the larger Zoho platform, which they refer to as a business operating system. This includes an email service, project management software, helpdesk software, and many other useful apps.

Among HubSpot CRM alternatives, this is a great pick. The feature suite focuses on relationship building and automating virtually everything that can be automated, with various versions available, depending on the size of your business. Zoho also touts a thorough approach to privacy. So, no ad providers on the network and no third-party trackers.

• Automation for workflows, processes, campaigns, customer journeys, and beyond
• Advanced analytics tools that include custom reports and dashboards, plus the ability to measure operations live
• The option to go for personalized implementation, with custom mobile apps, functions, and applications

Pricing: All four Zoho CRM plans come with a 15-day free trial, then pricing starts at €14/user/mo, billed yearly.

Drawbacks: It’s important to check if Zoho CRM supports the specific tax policies from where your company is registered. Also, many users report that the transfer of contact lists can take some manual tweaking.

9. Pipedrive – best for sales automation

Pipedrive is a CRM platform that focuses on sales automation. It was created for small businesses that want to streamline sales and marketing processes, but it’s also a good fit for growing companies that need extra customization and reporting. Among other HubSpot alternatives, it sets itself apart with a product catalog and unlimited sales pipelines on every plan.

• A wealth of sales CRM tools that let you track deals, organize pipelines by sales team, and monitor recurring revenue from subscriptions
• A sales automation system with smart contact data that helps close deals, plus automated lead management
• Campaigns by Pipedrive, a separate email marketing solution that helps leverage CRM data to build and execute a solid email marketing strategy

Pricing: Pipedrive has five plans starting at €14/user/mo, billed annually. All five come with a 14-day free trial.

Drawbacks: Setting up is not super-intuitive and users report that integrations don’t always go over smoothly.

Choose the best marketing automation tools for your agency

The knack is to start from your business goals, daily activities, and the specific needs of your sales and marketing teams. Match up your processes to the feature bundles the above tools offer, but also keep an eye on scalability. How expensive do things get when you add more users or features?

Try Planable if you want to how easy it can be to handle marketing automation and content management from a single platform that’s built for collaboration. The free plan includes 50 posts and grants unlimited access to all the features and goodies.

Irina is a freelance senior copywriter & content writer with an advertising agency background. If she’s not rummaging for good synonyms, she’s probably watching a sitcom or listening to radio dramas with plucky amateur detectives. She loves collage, doing crosswords on paper and shazamming the birds outside her window.

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• Home Internet

Low-Income Internet Discounts: These ACP Alternatives Can Help Fill the Gap

While an ACP extension is seeing some glimmers of hope in Congress, these low-cost plans are available right now.

Under the ACP, more than 23 million households were collectively saving almost $700 million per month.

At the end of May, more than 23 million homes in the US saw their internet bills increase by $30 to $75 per month when the Affordable Connectivity Program officially ran out of money. The pandemic-era program was available to anyone who made less than or equal to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or $62,400 for a family of four.

There have been a number of bills proposed in Congress throughout the year to extend the program -- the Senate Commerce Committee voted to attach an ACP extension to an existing bill at the end of July -- but none have been brought to a vote.

Nearly half of ACP subscribers were military families , according to a White House fact sheet . Older Americans, African Americans and Latinos have also relied on the ACP at higher rates. 

Locating local internet providers

“We are monitoring complaints regarding the Affordable Connectivity Program, and I should add that we’ve seen a 40% increase from consumers on them because they’re upset that this program’s come to an end,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said at a House subcommittee hearing on July 9. She added that the FCC is prepared to relaunch the program quickly if Congress passes legislation to extend funding.

“We have systems still in place at our administrator, we still know every benefit-qualifying individual that signed up for this program and we have hundreds of outreach partners ready to go if Congress finds a way to continue this program,” Rosenworcel said.

That's a small glimmer of hope for former ACP recipients who've had to cancel their internet or find extra money in their budgets over the past two months.

"It's been the difference between choosing to have a roof over my head, whether to eat or whether to pay for the internet, which has things like virtual appointments with my psychiatrist," Kenneth Sigler, a small-business owner from Hernando, Mississippi, who used the ACP, told CNET. "It basically helps me to keep from having to choose what bills I'm going to pay."

While there’s no single resource that can replace the $14.2 billion ACP, there are a variety of local and state subsidies, nonprofits and discounted plans from providers that can help ease the transition. Here's everything that's currently available.

Lifeline is a federal subsidy that provides $9.25 per month to low-income households for home internet or cellphone plans. Its eligibility requirements are a little stricter than those of the ACP. Your income must be 135% or less than the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or $40,500 for a family of four.

Lifeline income requirements

You can also get Lifeline if you (or someone who lives with you) participates in any of the following programs: 

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps)
• Supplemental Security Income, or SSI
• Federal Public Housing Assistance, or FPHA
• Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit

If you live in California , Oregon or Texas , you must check with your internet provider or visit your state's website to apply for the program.

Read more: The FCC Votes to Restore Net Neutrality. Here's What It Could Mean for You

State and local resources

Some states and cities across the country offer their own local versions of the ACP to help low-income households pay for internet. California , for example, has a website that allows you to search affordable options in your ZIP code based on various eligibility criteria, and Oregon provides an enhanced Lifeline benefit of $19.25 monthly.

Cities like Chicago offer free internet to families in Chicago public schools and eligible city colleges through its Chicago Connected program . The best way for you to find these resources is by going to Google and searching for "[location] internet resources." 

You can also check to see how your state is using the $2.75 billion allocated in the Digital Equity Act to help close the digital divide.

Low-income programs from internet providers

Many internet providers have their own discounted plans available for low-income households, including AT&T , Spectrum and Xfinity . Requirements vary, but they're usually similar to the ACP: one must meet certain income requirements or participate in a federal program like SNAP or the National School Lunch Program.

To help consumers navigate these discounted plans, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance created a scoring system called Grading Internet for Good , based on factors like cost, transparency and plan performance. I've included the NDIA ratings below, along with some basic information about each plan.

Internet provider discounts

To determine which providers are available in your area, enter your address on the Federal Communication Commission's broadband map .

Nonprofit organizations

There are a number of nonprofits around the country with the goal of closing the digital divide. Some help with monthly internet costs, while others provide devices that connect you to the internet. These organizations all received nonprofit status from the IRS and were vetted by watchdogs like Charity Navigator and Guidestar.org :

• Connect All : Part of the InterConnection nonprofit, Connect All provides refurbished computers to low-income users. Eligibility requirements are similar to those of the ACP: Participation in federal programs like SNAP or SSI will automatically qualify you for devices. 
• EveryoneOn : EveryoneOn is one of the most wide-ranging internet nonprofits out there. You can use its locator tool to find low-cost plans and computers in your area, enroll in digital skills courses and find local events that distribute devices.
• Human-I-T : This nonprofit accepts donations from corporations, refurbishes the devices and sells them at a discount to veterans, low-income households, seniors and other groups that qualify. It also offers low-cost internet through its mobile hotspot devices for less than $30 per month. 
• Internet for All Now : This is an initiative of the nonprofit California Emerging Technology Fund that helps Californians find low-cost plans in their area. People in California can call and speak with a trained expert, but the website has resources that anyone in the country can use.
• National Digital Inclusion Alliance : The NDIA is a well-known hub for research and policy aiming to close the digital divide, and while it doesn't offer low-cost internet itself, it's a helpful resource for navigating what's out there. You can also use this map of NDIA affiliates providing broadband adoption services to see what's available in your area.

Explore other internet plans in your area

If your bill's going up dramatically with the end of the ACP, another option is to search for other internet providers in your area. Most ISPs offer plans under $50 monthly, and you can often find additional discounts for things like bundling with a cellphone plan or signing an annual contract.  

Purchasing your own equipment can also save you some extra money each month. It usually costs around $15 to rent a modem and router from your internet provider, while you can buy your own for as little as $100, especially if you go with refurbished equipment. That said, you'll need to ensure your modem is compatible with your provider before you purchase.

More broadband news on CNET

• $90 Billion vs. the Digital Divide: Is It Enough to Fix Internet Access in the US?
• Internet Aid Cut: How the Loss of FCC's ACP May Worsen the Mental Health Crisis
• Broadband 'Nutrition Labels' Could Make It Easier to Shop for Internet Service

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A 16-year-old is the youngest male Olympic track and field gold medalist in history

PARIS — American men have competed in track and field at the Olympic Games for 128 years. Never before, however, has there been someone as young as Quincy Wilson.

The 16-year-old ran the opening leg of Round 1 of the U.S. 4x400-meter relay Friday inside Stade de France. With that run, Wilson became the youngest male U.S. track Olympian, eclipsing middle-distance runner Jim Ryun, who was 17 at the 1964 Olympics.

Wilson later became the youngest male Olympic track and field gold medalist ever after the U.S. 4x400-meter relay team — made up of Chris Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, and Rai Benjamin — won gold over Botswana on Saturday. While Wilson did not compete in the final, his efforts in Round 1 earned him the hardware.

In Friday's race, Wilson faded in the last 150 meters to hand over in seventh place, three seconds behind the leaders. But Team USA did not panic, with strong legs from the other American runners seeing the U.S. recovering to finish third and into Saturday's final.

Without going into detail, Wilson said afterward that he was not completely healthy.

“I knew I had a great three legs behind me,” Wilson said. “I knew it wasn’t just myself, because by myself we would be in last place.”

Wilson handed off to teammate Norwood, whose 43.54 leg got the U.S. back in contention. Norwood described himself as “very proud” watching Wilson.

“I was kind of in the moment because I’m watching a 16-year-old running the Olympics — Olympics history,” Norwood said.

Even at an Olympics where the youngest competitor is an 11-year-old Chinese skateboarder, and a 14-year-old Australian skateboarder has earned a gold medal, Wilson’s presence was remarkable given the strength and endurance required by his chosen event.

The 5-foot-9 Wilson, however, had proven himself in recent months by not only dominating in the 400 against his high school peers while at the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, but producing one of the most stunning performances at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon, in June, running a sub-45-second 400 in three consecutive rounds and finishing sixth in the final. 

At a meet in Florida on July 18, Wilson backed up Team USA’s decision by lowering the Under-18 world record to 44.20 and outkicking a field of professionals. The time ranks as the world’s 11th-fastest time of the season, fourth-fastest by an American, and would have been good enough for sixth in Wednesday’s Olympic 400-meter final.

The showing led USA Track & Field to include him in the pool of runners eligible to run on a U.S. relay in Paris. Making the relay pool only certifies an athlete is an option for U.S. coaches to consider, however. When Wilson wasn’t chosen to run on the mixed 4x400-meter team that eventually won silver, the teenager’s opportunities to don the U.S. jersey dwindled.

More from Olympics

• Olympians who finish near the bottom still marvel at what it took to get to Paris
• Second boxer embroiled in Olympic gender controversy advances to gold medal final
• American Gabby Thomas wins 200-meter gold medal

Wilson’s sister, Kadence, is a sprinter and long jumper for James Madison University while a cousin, Shaniya Hall, runs for the University of Oregon, and there were early signs Wilson would join them as a sprinting star. After an 8-year-old Wilson finished fourth in the 400 at the AAU Junior Olympic Games, he returned the next year and won the first of his five national championships. 

But no stage, of course, was as big as Friday on Stade de France’s purple track. 

The U.S. is already deep at the 400, with three men making Wednesday’s final, including gold medalist Quincy Hall, but Wilson’s emergence on the global stage has sparked significant expectations entering the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Before he can start an Olympic encore, however, he must begin his junior year of high school. 

Andrew Greif is a freelance sports journalist. 

More From Forbes

Five tips for successful capital raising.

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CEO of eCapital , a fast-growing fintech firm transforming financing for small to mid-size companies.

Raising capital is important for the success of any business. But it can be a time-consuming process and especially challenging for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) that don’t have the same resources, networks or visibility as larger companies. Here are five tips that, from my experience, can help make your capital-raising efforts more successful:

1. Start with a plan.

A crucial document for any company, it’s important that your business plan is clear and concise when revised into a pitch deck so it clearly communicates your vision to potential investors. You want it to be easy to understand; they should be able to understand the value proposition of your business and quickly get the differentiators and key points of your pitch. Some elements that a typical plan should outline include the details of your business, your mission, goals, target market and financial projections.

2. Tailor your pitch for your audience.

Going into a pitch, you should know the priorities and preferences of your audience for they can differ based on the investor. In other words, it is important to tailor your pitch to your audience and know your audience.

For example, if you are pitching a venture capital firm, they might be more interested in high-risk, high-reward opportunities; however, if it is a family office, they may tend toward conservative deals. If you understand their preference going in, you can develop a pitch that addresses their interests and concerns.

Do your research into their focus and track record in advance so you understand the types of businesses they typically invest in and the level of risk they are willing to take on.

3. Build your network.

Like in a team sport, no one raises capital alone, so make sure you are surrounded by the right people—from advisors, attorneys and accountants to individual and institutional investors.

These people can not only help you navigate the vital legal and financial aspects of the process but also give you valuable insights and connections. It’s particularly important to have peers in your industry who have raised capital from the firms you are targeting so you can learn about their investment style and expectations in advance. Building a strong network takes time and effort, but it can pay off big in the long run.

4. Be ready to negotiate and compromise.

Raising capital is a process, and you are likely going to have to compromise on some level. For instance, you may need to give up some equity in your company, agree to certain terms or conditions or compromise on interest rates or financial covenants. Every deal is different and depends on your specific needs and goals.

To prepare, be ready to justify your valuation or your ability to repay the principal or interest on a loan. It's important to have a clear understanding of your financial needs and the amount of equity you're willing to part with in exchange for funding.

You should also identify any non-negotiable elements of a deal that are essential to maintaining a successful strategy and find ways to work around them. By doing this, you can ensure that you make informed and strategic decisions when seeking funding for your business.

5. Seek alternative options.

Traditional methods of capital raising are not for everyone, especially in this economy. If they are not working for you, explore alternative options; for instance, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer lending or alternative financing companies are all potential avenues.

These might provide everything you are seeking and be more easily accessible for your business. It’s important to do your due diligence and choose the one that best fits your needs.

As you embark on your journey, remember, raising capital is not always easy, but with the right plan, network and mindset, it is possible to secure the funding you need to grow and succeed.

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Medicare Advantage in 2024: Enrollment Update and Key Trends

Meredith Freed , Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek , Anthony Damico, and Tricia Neuman Published: Aug 08, 2024

Medicare Advantage enrollment has been on a steady climb for the past two decades following changes in policy designed to encourage a robust role for private plan options in Medicare. After a period of some instability in terms of plan participation and enrollment, The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 created stronger financial incentives for plans to participate in the program throughout the country and renamed private Medicare plans Medicare Advantage. In 2024, 32.8 million people are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, accounting for more than half, or 54 percent, of the eligible Medicare population, and $462 billion (or 54%) of total federal Medicare spending (net of offsetting receipts, such as premiums). Medicare Advantage enrolls a disproportionate share of people of color in Medicare as well as an increasing number of dual eligible beneficiaries. The average Medicare beneficiary in 2024 has access to 43 Medicare Advantage plans , the same as in 2023, but more than double the number of plans offered in 2018.

The growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment is due to a number of factors, including the availability of plans that charge no premium (other than the Part B premium), and extra benefits offered by most Medicare Advantage plans. Nearly all Medicare Advantage plans offer some benefits not included in traditional Medicare, such as coverage of dental, vision, or hearing services, often for no additional premium. Medicare beneficiaries are also drawn to the financial protection that comes with an out-of-pocket limit, which Medicare Advantage plans are required to provide, while traditional Medicare has no out-of-pocket cap on spending. On the other hand, Medicare Advantage plans have limited provider networks and apply cost management tools such as  prior authorization , which traditional Medicare does not.

Generally, research shows that Medicare pays more to private Medicare Advantage plans for enrollees than their costs would be in traditional Medicare. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) reports  that plans receive payments from CMS that are  122%  of spending for similar beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, on average, translating to  an estimated $83 billion in higher spending in 2024 . As Medicare Advantage takes on a more dominant presence in the Medicare program, and with current payments to plans higher for Medicare Advantage than for traditional Medicare for similar beneficiaries, policymakers have become increasingly focused on how well Medicare’s current payment methodology for Medicare Advantage is working to enhance efficiency and hold down beneficiary costs and Medicare spending.

To better understand trends in the growth of the program, this brief provides current information about Medicare Advantage enrollment, by plan type and firm, and shows how enrollment varies by state and county. A second, companion analysis describes Medicare Advantage premiums, out-of-pocket limits, supplemental benefits offered, and prior authorization requirements in 2024. This analysis does not provide detailed information by enrollee characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, income, or dual status, because that information is not available.

Highlights for 2024:

• More than half (54%) of eligible Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2024. The share of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans varies across states, ranging from 2% to 63%. In 7 states, AL, CT, MI, HI, ME, FL, RI (and Puerto Rico), 60% or more of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, an increase from 3 states in 2023.
• More than one-third (37%) of Medicare beneficiaries live in a county where at least 60 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Three counties (excluding those in Puerto Rico) enroll 80% or more of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans: Monroe County, NY (Rochester; 82%), Starr, Texas (81%), and Miami-Dade County, Florida (80%). At the same time, 8 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries nationwide live in a county with relatively low enrollment, where less than one third of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. The wide variation in county enrollment rates reflect several factors, such as differences in firm strategy, urbanicity of the county, Medicare payment rates, number of Medicare beneficiaries, health care use patterns, and historical Medicare Advantage market penetration.
• Medicare Advantage enrollment is highly concentrated among a small number of firms, with UnitedHealthcare and Humana accounting for nearly half (47%) of all Medicare Advantage enrollees nationwide . In more than a quarter of all U.S. counties (29%; or 931 counties), these two firms account for at least 75 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollment. Since 2017, the market share for UnitedHealthcare and CVS Health has increased (25% to 29% and 8% to 12%, respectively), Humana (18%) and Cigna (2%) have held steady, while other firms’ share of total enrollment has slightly decreased (Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) affiliates, Kaiser Permanente, and Centene). Small firms (which each account for less than 2% of enrollment) have a smaller share of the market in 2024 than in 2017 (19% to 16%).

More than half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2024

In 2024, more than half (54%) of eligible Medicare beneficiaries – 32.8 million people out of 61.2 million Medicare beneficiaries with both Medicare Parts A and B – are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantage enrollment as a share of the eligible Medicare population has jumped from 19% in 2007 to 54% in 2024 (Figure 1).

Between 2023 and 2024, total Medicare Advantage enrollment grew by about 2.1 million beneficiaries, or 7 percent – a similar growth rate as the prior year (8%). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the share of all Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will rise to 64% by 2034 (Figure 2).

In 2024, nearly two-thirds of Medicare Advantage enrollees are in individual plans that are open for general enrollment.

More than 6 in 10 Medicare Advantage enrollees (62%), or 20.5 million people, are in plans generally available to all beneficiaries for individual enrollment (Figure 3). That is an increase of 0.9 million enrollees compared to 2023. Individual plans have declined as a share of total Medicare Advantage enrollment since 2010 (71%).

More than 6.6 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in special needs plans in 2024, more than double the enrollment in 2019.

More than 6.6 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in special needs plans (SNPs). SNPs restrict enrollment to specific types of beneficiaries with significant or relatively specialized care needs, or who qualify because they are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Enrollment in SNPs increased by 16 percent between 2023 and 2024, and accounts for 20 percent of total Medicare Advantage enrollment in 2024, an increase from 12 percent in 2010. Since 2019, SNP enrollment has more than doubled from 2.92 million to 6.64 million (Figure 4). This increase is due in part to the increasing number of SNP plans  available on average and more dual eligible individuals having access to these plans .

Most SNP enrollees (88%) are in plans for beneficiaries dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid (D-SNPs). Another 10 percent of SNP enrollees are in plans for people with severe chronic or disabling conditions (C-SNPs) and 2 percent are in plans for beneficiaries requiring a nursing home or institutional level of care (I-SNPs).

While D-SNPs are designed specifically for dually-eligible individuals , 1.2 million Medicare beneficiaries with full Medicaid benefits were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans generally available to all beneficiaries (not designed specifically for this population) in 2021, while 2.3 million full dual eligible individuals were in D-SNPs. D-SNPs have increasingly become the main source of Medicare Advantage coverage for dual eligible individuals.

SNP enrollment varies across states. In the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, SNP enrollees comprise about half of all Medicare Advantage enrollees (49% in DC and 51% in PR). In nine states, SNP enrollment accounts for at least a quarter of Medicare Advantage enrollment: 46% in MS, 34% in AR, 33% in LA and NY, 28% in FL and GA, and 25% in CT, SC and AL.

C-SNP enrollment in 2024 (about 675,000 people) is 45% higher than it was in 2023 – an increase of about 210,000 enrollees. Nearly all (97%) C-SNP enrollees are in plans for people with diabetes or cardiovascular conditions in 2024. Enrollment in I-SNPs has been increasing slightly, with approximately 115,000 enrollees in 2024, up from about 103,000 in 2023.

Slightly less than one in five (17% or about 5.7 million) Medicare Advantage enrollees are in a group plan offered to retirees by an employer or union.

Group enrollment as a share of total Medicare Advantage enrollment has fluctuated between 17% to 20% since 2010, but the actual number has increased from 1.8 million in 2010 to 5.7 million in 2024 (Figure 5). With a group plan, an employer or union contracts with an insurer and Medicare pays the insurer a fixed amount per enrollee to provide benefits covered by Medicare. For example, 13 states provide health insurance benefits to their Medicare-eligible retirees exclusively through Medicare Advantage plans.

As with other Medicare Advantage plans, employer and union group plans may provide additional benefits and/or lower cost sharing than traditional Medicare and are eligible for bonus payments if they obtain required quality scores. The employer or union (and sometimes the retiree) may also pay an additional premium for these supplemental benefits. Group enrollees comprise a quarter or more of Medicare Advantage enrollees in nine states: Alaska (100%), Michigan (38%), New Jersey (33%), West Virginia (31%), Maryland (30%), Illinois (29%), Vermont (27%), Kentucky (26%), and Connecticut (25%).

The share of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans varies by state and county

The share of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans varies across states, ranging from 2% to 63%.

In 30 states, Medicare Advantage enrollees account for more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries, including in 7 states, AL, CT, MI, HI, ME, FL, RI (and Puerto Rico) where 60% or more of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans (Figure 6). In contrast, Medicare Advantage enrollment is relatively low (less than 40%) in 13 states, including five states with less than 30% of beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan – AK, MD, ND, SD, and WY – all of which (beside MD) are mostly rural. Overall, Puerto Rico has the highest Medicare Advantage penetration, with 95 percent of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. A decade ago, the share of Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans did not exceed 50 percent in any state (other than Puerto Rico).

The share of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage varies widely across counties.

For example, in Florida, 60% of all Medicare beneficiaries in the state are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, ranging from 21% in Monroe County (Key West) to 80% in Miami-Dade County (Figure 7). In Ohio, 57% of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, with the share ranging from 32% in Mercer County (Celina) to 69% in Stark County (Canton).

In 2024, more than a third (37%) of Medicare beneficiaries live in a county where at least 60 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries in that county are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans (618 counties). That is substantially more than in 2010 when just 3 percent of the Medicare population lived in a county where 60 percent or more of Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan (83 counties). Many counties with high Medicare Advantage penetration are centered around relatively large, urban areas, such as Monroe County, NY (82%), which includes Rochester, and Allegheny County, PA (74%), which includes Pittsburgh. In contrast, 8 percent of Medicare beneficiaries live in a county where less than one third of all Medicare beneficiaries in that county are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans (849 counties). Counties with relatively low enrollment tend to be less populated rural areas. However, others, such Montgomery County, MD (27%) and Suffolk, NY (31%), which includes much of Long Island, are in more populous areas. (This county-level analysis excludes Medicare Advantage enrollment in Connecticut. See methods for more details.)

Variation in the share of eligible Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan is explained by a combination of factors, including firm-level strategies to target particular geographic areas, the urbanicity of the county and state, variation in Medicare payment rates, the number and characteristics of people eligible for Medicare, health care use patterns, and the historical Medicare Advantage market penetration.

Medicare Advantage enrollment is highly concentrated among a small number of firms

The average Medicare beneficiary is able to choose from Medicare Advantage plans offered by 8 firms in 2024 , one fewer than in 2023 and 2022, and one-third of beneficiaries (33%) can choose among Medicare Advantage plans offered by 10 or more firms.

UnitedHealthcare and Humana account for nearly half of all Medicare Advantage enrollees nationwide in 2024.

Despite most beneficiaries having access to plans operated by several different firms, Medicare Advantage enrollment is highly concentrated among a small number of firms. UnitedHealthcare, alone, accounts for 29% of all Medicare Advantage enrollment in 2024, or 9.4 million enrollees. Together, UnitedHealthcare and Humana (18%) account for nearly half (47%) of all Medicare Advantage enrollees nationwide, the same as in 2023. In more than a quarter of counties (29%; or 931 counties), these two firms account for at least 75% of Medicare Advantage enrollment. These counties include East Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge), LA (81%), Clark County (Las Vegas), NV (79%), Travis County (Austin), FL (78%), and El Paso County (Colorado Springs), CO (76%). (Again, this county-level analysis does not include Connecticut.)

BCBS affiliates (including Anthem BCBS plans) account for 14% of enrollment, and four firms (CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente, Centene, and Cigna) account for another 23% of enrollment in 2024.

UnitedHealthcare and Humana have consistently accounted for a relatively large share of Medicare Advantage enrollment.

UnitedHealthcare has had the largest share of Medicare Advantage enrollment and largest growth in enrollment since 2010, increasing from 20 percent of all Medicare Advantage enrollment in 2010 to 29 percent in 2024. Humana has also had a high share of Medicare Advantage enrollment, though its share of enrollment has grown more slowly, from 16 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2024. BCBS plans share of enrollment has been more constant over time but has declined moderately since 2014.

CVS Health, which purchased Aetna in 2018, has seen its share of enrollment double from 6 percent in 2010 to 12 percent in 2024. Kaiser Permanente now accounts for 6 percent of total enrollment, a moderate decline as a share of total Medicare Advantage enrollment since 2010 (9%), mainly due to the growth of enrollment in plans offered by other insurers and only a modest increase in enrollment growth for Kaiser Permanente over that time. However, for those insurers that have seen declines in their overall share of enrollment, the actual number of enrollees for each insurer is larger than it was in 2010.

By absolute numbers, CVS Health had the largest growth in plan year enrollment, increasing by 758,000 beneficiaries between March 2023 and March 2024. Humana had the second largest growth in plan year enrollment, with an increase of about 472,000 beneficiaries between March 2023 and March 2024. UnitedHealthcare plans had the third highest growth in plan year enrollment, increasing by 456,000 beneficiaries – the first time in 8 years it did not have the largest plan growth among all firms. BCBS plans had the fourth largest growth in plan enrollment with an increase of about 283,000, followed by Kaiser Permanente, increasing by about 45,000 beneficiaries between March 2023 and March 2024. However, Centene had fewer enrollees, with enrollment declining by about 202,000 between March 2023 and March 2024.

Meredith Freed, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, and Tricia Neuman are with KFF. Anthony Damico is an independent consultant.

• Medicare Advantage

Also of Interest

• Medicare Advantage in 2024: Premiums, Out-of-Pocket Limits, Supplemental Benefits, and Prior Authorization
• Medicare Advantage 2024 Spotlight: First Look
• Use of Prior Authorization in Medicare Advantage Exceeded 46 Million Requests in 2022