What's in a business plan?

A business plan should prove that your business will generate enough revenue to cover your expenses and make a satisfactory return for bankers or investors.

1. Executive Summary--features the highlights of your plan and sells your idea in two pages or less.
2. Company Summary--a factual description of your company, ownership, and history.
3. Products (or Services or both)--describes your products and/or services and how they stand out from competitive products and services.
4. Market Analysis-provides a summary of your typical customers, competitive landscape, market size, and expected market growth.
5. Strategy and Implementation-describes how you will sell your product, how you will put your plan into action, and establishes milestones.
6. Management Summary-provides background on the management team, their experiences, and key accomplishments.
7. Financial Plan-contains key financials including sales, cash flow, and profits.

There can be many more elements depending on what type of business you are planning.