1. Your business will operate more efficiently and will gain much more profit

2. You will be less stressed on a daily basis, writing business plan causes less confusion in knowing where you want your business to be

3. It is mandatory to have if you are proposing your business to a bank or lender for a loan

It's no secret that having a guided outlook on where you want your business to go is the key to its success, The first thing that you should draft before any other thing is a solid business plan. Most people hate this part of the business set-up process, but it can be quite exciting and rewarding once completed. It is basically a written floor plan for your business. Initially writing your business plan is only the first step. Because industry standards and trends are in constant motion of change, it is always good to re-visit your business plan every couple of months to make sure your goals, ideas, and marketing strategies are not lagging behind your competitors.

As with anything else, writing down your goals and missions is the first step towards it's manifestation. Even if you will not be going to a bank or lender for a business loan, where a business plan is a must have, having a business plan for you to refer to will make you feel more confident in what you need to do and less stressed with knowing what direction you want your business to go.

1. Cover Sheet: Your cover sheet should include the name of your business, its start-up date, or revision date, location, contact information, such as phone number, website, fax, and e-mail address, preparers name, and title, should you have one.

2. Summary Page: It is suggested that you do this part of your plan last, however it is best positioned before the table of contents. This page states your objectives and mission. It summarizes and explains the steps that you are prepared to take towards developing your business. You will also list your financial or capital needs within this section. If you will be pursuing a business loan for your company, it would be a good idea to provide an explanation of how you intend to use the money and an explanation of how you plan to repay it to the investor. Try to keep this section at one page if possible.

3. Table of Contents: Pretty much self explanatory. Simply list the page contents of your plan along with its page number. This will help you and your viewers to find what they need quickly. If you have supporting documentations/research to accompany your plan, the page numbers for those should be included as well.

4. The Body: Included within this section is a description of your business, its legal support, employee/personnel information, location along with description, accounting information, inventory security, such as insurance information.

5. Marketing Plan: This is probably one of the most important parts of your business plan. Include in this section an overview of your market and explain who your target market is and how your business will be unique to them. Include information and research about your competitors and how your company differs from them. State in what ways you will go about marketing your product to potential and existing customers, market entry time.

6. Financial Documentation: It is good to include visuals such as graphs, tables, and scales to show and analyze the profitable information on how your business can grow financially. Projected financial statements, historical projections of your industry, 3 year income growth projection, break even analysis, cash flow statement, cash flow statements(CFS) records the amounts of cash and equivalents entering and leaving a company. Allowing investors to understand how a company's operations are running, where its money is coming from, and how it is being spent. You will need to include your financial needs, how you plan to spend and disperse the loan, and a history of your financial background.

7. Supporting Documentation: Basically this would be anything to back up your statements and analysis within your entire business plan, including resumes, personal financial documentation, articles of organization(LLC, partnership information), legal contracts, copyright, trademark, and patent documentation. It would be a great addition to also include letters of references, demographic research, and any other documentation that you feel would support and exemplify the sound structure of your plans.

To find out more about business plans and the elements that it should include, pick up the following books: Writing A Convincing Business Plan: by Art Dethomas, Steps to Small Business Start-Up: Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Idea into a Successful Business: by Linda Pinson & Jerry Jinnett.