Business Plan Checklist
Table of Contents
Gather your basic financial statements
Provide documentation
Financial statements are formal records of your business' financial activities. There are four basic statements:
Income statement: Your bottom line subtracting costs from revenue to come up with net profit
Balance sheet: A financial snapshot that shows what you own, what you owe, and what your company is worth
Cash flow statement: A cash monitor that follows the flow of cash in and out of your company
Budget: Your financial forecast that indicates where you plan to make and spend money
Determine your audience
Identify customers and the competition
This is a critical part of a successful business plan. ;Incorporate research on both groups.
Ask these questions of customers: Who is buying, what do they buy, and why ;do they buy?
Ask these questions of competitors: How big are they, which customers are they after, and what is their strategy?
Incorporate these elements
Executive summary
Company overview
Business environment
Company description
Company strategy
Financial review
Action plan
Consider these topics
Plans: Company mission, vision, goals, and objectives that all work together
Organization: A structure for your company that makes sense
Procedures: Efficient and effective ways of doing things
Leadership: An ability to influence and encourage others around you
Skills: The talents and expertise your people need to succeed
Culture: Beliefs and attitudes that lead to doing the right thing
Consider the other factors on this list of business-planning essentials:
Get everyone involved in setting goals and objectives
Learn all you can about your customers
Understand who your competitors are
Identify your strengths and weaknesses relative to opportunities and threats
Determine which capabilities you absolutely need to succeed
List all the things you do that add customer value
Make sure that you do your financial homework
Imagine several different versions of your company's future
Avoid business failure
Do your research, and prepare
If you're not prepared, your business will likely fail.
Establish a long-term company vision
Be sure to establish and follow clear goals and objectives to meet the vision.
Prepare for change
Stay flexible and you will succeed.
Focus on the customers
And whatever you do, don't underestimate the competition.
Be a strong leader
Communicate well, and often.
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Presented by:
Jake R Brady
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Introduction
Details
A well-developed business plan is critical for any start-up business. To develop a thorough business plan, research your customers and competition; avoid mistakes that lead to business failure; and know how to implement a business plan and make it work. Your business plan should include a basic financial statement, all major pieces of a business plan, and information from your business-planning checklist.
Tips
- Keep your focus on these three things:
- Cut costs to the bone
- Offer something unique
- Focus on one customer group
Who it's for
This Business Plan Checklist is for teams that want consistent execution, less rework, and clear ownership.
- Standardize quality - run the same Business Plan steps every time, regardless of who executes
- Save time - reuse a proven Business Plan workflow instead of rebuilding processes from scratch
- Improve accountability - assign owners and see what's done vs. what's pending
- Onboard faster - use the Business Plan checklist as the SOP and training guide
- Coordinate across roles - handoffs are clear and everyone works from the same source of truth
How to use it
How to use this Business Plan Checklist:
- Start by saving it - save as a Template if you'll reuse it, or as a Checklist if it's a one-off project.
- Customize it once for your workflow - remove what doesn't apply and add your team-specific steps.
- Assign ownership and execute - set owners/due dates where needed and track completion as work happens.
- Reuse without rebuilding - when Business Plan comes up again, start from your saved version and run it with clear ownership.