A Standard Business Plan Outline

Chapter 2: Pick Your Plan - Page 2.3

A Standard Business Plan Outline

The table that starts on this page includes a standard business plan outline. Earlier I said that I don't recommend developing the plan in the same order you present it as a finished document. For example, although the Executive Summary obviously comes as the first section of a business plan, I recommend writing it after everything else is done. It will appear first, but you write it last.

This book, therefore, discusses the business plan in the order you develop a plan, not in the same order as the document outline. The following outline explains, in detail, where the different tables and topics fall in a standard outline, and where you can find the related discussions in this book.

Outline order and sequence in a standard business plan.	Where the process is covered in this book
1.0 Executive Summary 1.1 Objectives 1.2 Mission 1.3 Keys to Success	Strategy and Tactics: Strategy is Focus, helps you write the main summary. Fundamentals: Initial Assessment, talks about Objectives, Mission, and Keys to Success.
2.0 Company Summary 2.1 Company Ownership 2.2 Start-up Plan (for new companies) or Company History (for ongoing companies) 2.3 Company Locations and Facilities	Tell Your Story: Describe Your Company, covers the company text section in your business plan as well as the related tables, either the Start-up or the Past Performance table.
3.0 Products (or Services, or both) 3.1 Product and/or Service Description 3.2 Competitive Comparison 3.3 Sales Literature 3.4 Sourcing 3.5 Technology 3.6 Future Products	This is in Tell Your Story: What You Sell.
	Continued on the next page

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