pricing business plan example

The pricing strategy guide: Choosing pricing strategies that grow (not sink) your business

Choosing the pricing strategy for your business requires research, calculation, and a good amount of thought. Simply guessing may put you out of business. Here's what you need to know.

Definition of pricing

What are pricing strategies.

• Importance of pricing strategy

Top 7 pricing strategies

• 3 real-world examples
• How to create your strategy
• Determine value metric
• Customer profiles & segments
• User research & experiments
• Bonus: 10 data-driven tips
• Industry differences
• Final takeaway

Pricing strategies FAQs

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Too many businesses set their pricing without putting much thought into it. This is a mistake causing them to leave money on the table from the beginning. The good news is that taking the time to get your product pricing right can act as a powerful growth lever.  If you optimize your pricing strategy so that more people are paying a higher amount, you'll end up with significantly more revenue than a business who treats pricing more passively. This sounds obvious, but it's rare for businesses to put much effort into finding the best pricing strategy.

This guide will cover everything you need to know about setting a pricing strategy that works for your business. 

Check out this introduction video made by the Paddle Studios team.

Price Intelligently is Paddle’s dedicated team of pricing and packaging experts for SaaS and subscription companies. We combine unrivaled expertise and first-party data to solve your unique pricing challenges, break the mold, and catapult your growth.  Learn more

Pricing is defined as the amount of money that you charge for your products, but understanding it requires much more than that simple definition. Baked into your pricing are indicators to your potential customers about how much you value your brand, product, and customers. It's one of the first things that can push a customer towards, or away from, buying your product. As such, it should be calculated with certainty.

Pricing strategies refer to the processes and methodologies businesses use to set prices for their products and services. If pricing is how much you charge for your products, then product pricing strategy is how you determine what that amount should be. There are different pricing strategies to choose from but some of the more common ones include:

• Value-based pricing
• Competitive pricing
• Price skimming
• Cost-plus pricing
• Penetration pricing
• Economy pricing
• Dynamic pricing

Pricing is an underutilized growth lever

Many companies focus on acquisition to grow their business, but studies have shown that small variations in pricing can raise or lower revenue by 20-50%. Despite that, even among Fortune 500 companies, fewer than 5% have functions dedicated to setting the best price possible. There's a missed opportunity in the business world to see immediate growth for relatively little effort. 

Navigating PLG billing and pricing? Read our latest guide on product-led SaaS

Because most businesses spend less than 10 hours per year thinking about pricing, there's a lot of untapped growth potential in optimizing what you charge. In fact, choosing the best pricing method is a more powerful growth lever than customer acquisition. In some cases, it can be up to 7.5 times more powerful than acquisition. 

The importance of nailing your pricing strategy

Having an  effective pricing strategy  helps solidify your position by building trust with your customers, as well as meeting your business goals. Let's compare and contrast the messaging that a strong pricing strategy sends in relation to a weaker one.

A winning pricing strategy:

• Portrays value

The word cheap has two meanings. It can mean a lower price, but it can also mean poorly made. There's a reason people associate cheaply priced products with cheaply made ones. Built into the higher price of a product is the assumption that it's of higher value.

• Convinces customers to buy 

A high price may convey value, but if that price is more than a potential customer is willing to pay, it won't matter. A low price will seem cheap and get your product passed over. The ideal price is one that convinces people to purchase your offering over the similar products that your competitors have to offer.

• Gives your customers confidence in your product 

If higher-priced products portray value and exclusivity, then the opposite follows as well. Prices that are too low will make it seem as though your product isn't well made.

A weak pricing strategy:

• Doesn't accurately portray the value of your product

If you believe you have a winning product, and you should if you are selling it, then you need to convince customers of that. Setting prices too low sends the opposite message.

• Makes customers feel uncertain about buying

Just as the right price is one that customers will pull the trigger on quickly, a price that's too high or too low will cause hesitation.

• Targets the wrong customers

Some customers prefer value, and some prefer luxury. You have to price your product to match the type of customer it is targeted towards.

Let's now take a closer look at the seven most common pricing strategies that were outlined above with more from Paddle Studios .

Click on any of the links below for a more in-depth guide to that particular pricing strategy.

1. Value-based pricing

With value-based pricing, you set your prices according to what consumers think your product is worth. We're big fans of this pricing strategy for SaaS businesses.

2. Competitive pricing

When you use a competitive pricing strategy, you're setting your prices based on what the competition is charging. This can be a good strategy in the right circumstances, such as a  business just starting out , but it doesn't leave a lot of room for growth.

3. Price skimming  

If you set your prices as high as the market will possibly tolerate and then lower them over time, you'll be using the price skimming strategy. The goal is to skim the top off the market and the lower prices to reach everyone else. With the right product it can work, but you should be very cautious using it.

4. Cost-plus pricing 

This is one of the simplest pricing strategies. You just take the product production cost and add a certain percentage to it. While simple, it is less than ideal for anything but physical products.

5. Penetration pricing

In highly competitive markets, it can be hard for new companies to get a foothold. One way some companies attempt to push new products is by offering prices that are much lower than the competition. This is penetration pricing. While it may get you customers and decent sales volume, you'll need a lot of them and you'll need them  to be very loyal  to stick around when the price increases in the future.

6. Economy pricing 

This strategy is popular in the commodity goods sector. The goal is to price a product cheaper than the competition and make the money back with increased volume. While it's a good method to get people to buy your generic soda, it's not a great fit for SaaS and subscription businesses.

7. Dynamic pricing 

In some industries, you can get away with constantly  changing your prices  to match the current demand for the item. This doesn't work well for subscription and SaaS business, because customers expect consistent monthly or yearly expenses.

Three real-world pricing strategy examples

Real-world pricing strategy examples are the best way for a business to better understand the above-listed pricing strategies. Evaluating other businesses' approaches can be a good starting point but keep in mind that the right pricing strategy is based on math, market research, and consumer insights. For now, let’s look at the pricing strategy examples of some of the biggest brands of today: 

1. Streaming services 

Have you noticed that you pay roughly the same amount for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, and other streaming services? That's because these companies have adopted competitive pricing , or at least a form of it, called  market-based pricing .

2. Salesforce

When Salesforce first came out, they were the only CRM in the cloud. (It wasn't even called 'the cloud' back then!) Armed with ground-breaking deployment and a target customer of a large enterprise, Salesforce could charge what they wanted. Later, after they'd grown, they were able to lower prices so small businesses could sign up. This is a classic example of  price skimming . 

3. Dollar Shave Club

At one time, you couldn't turn on your TV without an ad for Dollar Shave Club telling you how much cheaper they were than razors at the store. Although an aggressive  marketing strategy  and advertising like that is unusual for the pricing model, they were nevertheless employing economy pricing. It worked out well for them. They were acquired by Unilever in 2016 for a reported $1 billion.

How to create a winning pricing strategy

In the beginning, the actual number you're charging isn't that important.

There are some exceptions, but for the most part, you should first be figuring out the range you're in: a $10 product, $100 product, $1k product, etc. Don't waste time debating $500 vs. $505, because this doesn't matter as much until you have a stronger foundation beneath you.

Instead, understanding the following is much more important:

• Finding your  value metric
• Setting your ideal  customer profiles and segments
• Completing  user research + experimentation

This video from Paddle Studios goes deep on mastering a winning pricing strategy.

Step 1: Determine your value metric

A “ value metric ” is essentially what you charge for. For example: per seat, per 1,000 visits, per CPA, per GB used, per transaction, etc. 

If you get everything else wrong in pricing, but you get your value metric right, you'll do ok . It's that important. Partly because it bakes lower churn and higher expansion revenue into your monetization.

A pricing strategy based on a value metric (vs. a tiered monthly fee) is important because it allows you to make sure you're not charging a large customer the same as you'd charge a small customer.

If you remember your high school or college economics class, the professor put a point on a demand curve for the perfect price and said “the revenue a firm gets is the area under that point.” The problem here is: what about all that other area under the curve?  You’re missing out on that revenue by charging a flat monthly fee.

“Good, better, best” pricing strategy is a bit more advantageous, because you end up with three points on our trusty demand curve, and thus more revenue potential. You see this problem among many eCommerce businesses and retailers whose products are constrained by being physical goods—the car with the basic package vs. the car with the stereo and sunroof vs. the car with everything. In software, it’s thankfully dying out, but you’ll still see it with mass-market products:  Netflix, Adobe Creative Cloud, etc.

A value metric, however, allows you to have essentially infinite price points—maximizing your revenue potential. In practice, you’ll never show infinite price points on your pricing page , sales deck, or mobile conversion page, but you may have a new customer come in at a certain level and then grow.

Value metrics also bake growth directly into how you charge because as usage or the amount of value received goes up (and those are not the same thing), the customer pays more. If they end up using or consuming less, they pay less (and thus avoid churning). This is why companies using value metrics are typically growing at  double the rate with half the churn and 2x the expansion revenue  when compared to companies that charge a flat fee or where the only difference between their pricing tiers are features.

To determine your value metric, think about the  ideal essence of value  for your product—what value are you directly providing your customer?

In B2B, it's likely going to be money saved, revenue gained, time saved, etc. In  DTC , it may be the joy you bring them, fitness achieved, increased efficiency, etc. Obviously, we can't measure all of these, but if you can,  and  your customer trusts your measurement (meaning you say you saved them $100 and they agree you saved them $100), that’s your value metric.

As an example, the perfect value metric for  Paddle Retain  (our churn recovery product) is how much churn we recover for you. We can measure this, and our customers agree to the measurement, so we can charge on that axis. Other pure value metric products include  MainStreet , which handles government paperwork to automatically get you back tax credits—you pay a percentage of the money saved.

Most of you won't have a pure value metric, so the next step is to find a proxy for that metric. Take for example  HubSpot ’s marketing product. Their pure value metric is the amount of revenue their tool drives for your business. This is hard to measure and hard for the customer to agree to in terms of what percentage of credit HubSpot deserves for revenue from a blog post. Proxies for HubSpot are things like the number of contacts, number of visits, number of users, etc.

To find the right proxy metric, you want to come up with 5-10 proxies and then talk to your customers and prospects. You’ll typically find 1-2 of these pricing metrics will be most preferred amongst your target customers. You then want to make sure those 1-2 also make sense from a growth perspective. Your larger customers should be using/getting more of the metric, whereas your smaller customers should be using/getting less of the metric. You also want to make sure the metric encourages retention.

When we look at HubSpot, if they were to primarily price on “number of seats”, folks could share a login and HubSpot wouldn’t make much more money on large customers vs. small. Ironically they wouldn’t get as many people invested in HubSpot, because there’d be friction to adding additional seats. Instead, if they give unlimited seats and price based on “number of contacts” there’s minimal friction to getting as many people into HubSpot as possible to do activities (e.g., blog posts,  email campaigns , landing pages, etc.) that then produce contacts.

The result: HubSpot’s marketing product’s value metric is “contacts”, which ensures growth is baked directly into how they make money. The usage drives the metric, which therein drives revenue. Most importantly customers small, medium, and large are all paying at the point they see the value and then can grow.

Some other examples:

• Wistia  charges by the number of videos or channels you use/have
• Zapier  invented the concept of zap (connection of software) and charge based on time to connect
• Theater in Barcelona charged based on the number of laughs
• Husqvarna  charges based on time for lawn care products vs. making you buy them
• Rolls Royce  charges per mile for airplane engines. They own the engines on the plane you own and do all the maintenance. Cool model.
• Fresh Patch  charges based on the amount of grass you want per month for your dog—yes they deliver grass to you monthly

As a side note, you should stop pricing based on seats for products where each seat doesn’t provide a unique experience. For instance, imagine you're an AE using a CRM. If you log into the account of the AE sitting next to you, you can’t really do your work because you are only seeing their leads and accounts. Conversely, if you were a marketing exec and were to log in to another marketing manager’s account in HubSpot, you could do all the work you need to. Thus, for the latter, seats are not the right value metric.

Per-seat pricing is a relic of the  perpetual license  era when we couldn’t measure usage or value enough within our products. We’re beyond that point, so use the above as a good litmus test.

Step 2: Determine your customer profiles and segments

The second key component of your pricing strategy is determining your target segment and ideal customer profile. We've all heard about personas, and you may be rolling your eyes at the concept, but most personas are useless because they aren’t quantitative enough. When used properly, quantified personas and segments are beautiful tools. The information needs to go beyond just cute names like “Startup Steve" with a cute avatar, and cute meetings where people tell you they’re targeting "developers."

To get quantified personas, you need to pull out a spreadsheet.  Here’s a template  you can use.

1. Columns: Customer profiles you're targeting

These can take many forms, but the ultimate goal is to be as specific as possible so that you not only know who you’re targeting but how to monetize and retain them. Pragmatically, you typically separate these customer profiles based on size or role (or both). For example, a marketing automation product may target the following profiles:

• Marketing leaders (Director and higher) at companies $1M to $10M
• Marketing leaders (Director and higher) at companies $10.01M to $50M
• Marketing leaders (Director and higher) at companies $50.01M to $100M

The point is you can’t be everything to all people and you need to understand who you’re targeting in order to make better decisions.

2. Rows: Characteristics of each profile to help you differentiate between them

• Most valued features
• Least valued features
• Willingness to pay
• Lifetime value (LTV)
• Customer acquisition costs (CAC)
• ... and any other metric or category you think could be useful

If you're just starting out or you don't have some of this data, it’s fine. Still fill it out though with your hypotheses. You know  something  about your customers.

Next, you then need to validate (or invalidate) the most pressing hypothesis in that spreadsheet based on the decisions you’re going to make. If you're going to validate a new feature for a particular segment, then that's where you should start. Price point the biggest question? Start by researching the price point with each of these roles/segments.

If you don't know who your key roles/segments are, there's no way in hell you’ll set up an efficient growth flywheel, let alone an optimized pricing strategy. Personas act as a constitution within your business to centralize your focus and arguments about direction.

If you don't do segment and persona analysis, you better be able to raise a ton of money. I guarantee you there's some persona or segment on some vision document or in that euphoric part of your entrepreneurial brain that is completely wrong for your business. I see it all the time. Even I—someone who thinks about segments and customer research all the time—fall prey to being an absolute idiot with who we should target.

When we built  ProfitWell Metrics (our free subscription metrics tool) I thought we were geniuses who were going to be billionaires. Turns out analytics products are terrible. Willingness to pay for them is terrible; retention for them is terrible; NPS is terrible. Everything is just terrible, mainly because customers don't appreciate graphs or at least aren't willing to pay much for them. When we did our research this became obvious and put us 18 months ahead of our competitors, pushing us to change up the positioning of the product to freemium, which has fueled our business ever since (oh and our NPS is 70, because we massively over-deliver a free product better than the paid competition).

Never underestimate the power of focusing on the customer through research. You should never, ever just do what they ask, but you need to be an anthropologist who knows them better than anyone else.

Step 3: User research + experimentation

Beyond your value metric and core segments, the monetization game becomes extremely tactical and research-based. Figuring out your price point involves researching those segments and then making decisions in the field. Same with discounting, add-on, and packaging strategies. The point: monetization is never finished because it’s the very essence of translating your value into an optimal framework for your target customer segments.

Practically this is why you should be experimenting with your monetization every quarter. Experimentation can get tricky and have a few quirks, but you’ll find it’s similar to most growth frameworks out there (which are all versions of the scientific method).

Here’s a good prioritization list of what business owners should attack in optimizing their  monetization strategy  once they have the core segments and value metric figured out:

Priority 1: Foundational [see above]

• Core customer segments
• Value metrics

Priority 2: Core

• Order of magnitude price point (are you a $10 product vs. a $500 product)
• Positioning and value props

Priority 3: Optimizations

• Add-on strategy
• Specific price point (are you a $10 product vs. a $11 product)
• Price localization/internationalization
• Discounting strategy
• Contract Term optimization

Priority 4: Growth accelerators

• Market expansion (going up or down market)
• Vertical expansion
• Multi-Product

Your true order of operations with monetization will vary, but for the most part, all companies should work through the foundational and core sections before moving to the optimizations and growth accelerators. If you’re larger or there’s a fire, you may start with an optimization. In fact, this is sometimes a good idea. Something more scoped like “price localization” can help get momentum, be a forcing function to clean up tech and experimentation stacks, and mitigate political conversations. Remember, monetization is something that’s important, uncomfortable, and something you likely don’t know much about, so progress is better than nothing. Start small. You can (and should) always do more.

Bonus: 10 rapid-fire pricing strategy tips rooted in data⚡

In case you're still hungry for more tips on nailing your pricing strategy and achieving maximum profitability, look no further. We've got you covered:

1. You should  localize your pricing  to the currency and willingness to pay of the prospect's region

• Revenue per customer is 30% higher when you just use the proper currency symbol
• Having different price points in different regions increases revenue per customer further, and is justified based on different consumer demands in different regions

2. Freemium is an acquisition model, not a part of pricing

• Think of  freemium  as a premium ebook driving leads, not another pricing tier
• Don't do freemium until you truly understand how to convert leads to customers, because you’ll end up increasing noise or false positives when you’re trying to figure out your segment beachheads. The best folks who deploy free typically don’t implement freemium until two to three years into their business. The exceptions to this notion are if you have a very specific need or network effect (eg., marketplaces, social networks, etc.) or if you have a top 50 growth person on your team.
• To be clear, we're not saying DON’T do freemium. we're saying it's a scalpel, not a sledgehammer that requires thought. A lot of people end up reading our articles on freemium and end up going, “Cool, let’s do freemium and we’ll be a unicorn.” I’m being pragmatic in that you need to realize freemium is fantastic, but doing freemium properly takes a lot of effort and nuance.
• Paid users who convert from free tend to have higher NPS, better retention, and much lower CAC .

3. Value propositions matter oh so much

In B2B value propositions can swing willingness to pay ±20%, in DTC it's ±15%

4. Don't discount over 20%

In some verticals discounting over 20% may be fine, but you're likely not in one of them (although you may think you are), but the size of the discount almost perfectly correlates with higher churn. Large  discounts  get people to convert, but they don't stick around.

5. For upgrades to annual discounts, don't use percentages and try offers

Percentages don't work as well as whole dollar amounts for discounts (ie., "one month" will work better than "X percent off"). Annuals see much lower churn rates.

6. Should you end your price in 9s or 0s? Depends on your price point

Ending your prices in 9s evokes a discount brand, making the customer feel like they're getting something. Ending in 0 evokes luxury or premium, making them feel like they're getting a high-end product. Studies on this for technology products are inconclusive. We have seen it increase conversion in lower-cost products, but retention isn't as good with those customers.

7. You should experiment with your pricing in some manner every quarter

This doesn't mean change you should the price point each quarter, but experiment with variable costs. More changes correlate with increasing revenue per customer. Like all things, focusing on something makes you improve it.

8. Case studies boost willingness to pay quite a bit

Social proof is important.  Case studies  that offer proof of the high quality of your products can boost willingness to pay by 10-15% in both B2B and in DTC.

9. Design helps boost willingness to pay by 20%

This graph didn't look this way 10 years ago when design didn't do much for willingness to pay. Today, affinity for a company's design can boost willingness to pay considerably.

10. Integrations boost retention and willingness to pay

The more integrations a customer is using, typically the higher their willingness to pay and the better their retention. I wouldn't charge for the integrations, but I'd use this as a tool to get people hooked in and paying more or buying different add-ons.

Pricing strategies for different industries

Pricing strategies are not one size fits all. Finding the proper pricing strategy is dependent on your industry, as well as your company's unique objectives. But to give you an idea, we've listed a couple of industries and strategies that are well suited for each other. 

SaaS/Subscriptions

For SaaS and subscription-based businesses, value-based pricing is the winner hands down. As long as your customers are willing to pay, you can charge much more than your competitors.  Because your price is based on how much customers will spend, it isn't artificially lowered like other methods that fail to account for that. 

We also like value-based pricing for B2B companies. Value-based pricing requires you to look outward and understand your customers better. This is good for finding the optimal price, but it's also good for building optimal relationships that will also help grow your company. 

No more price guessing, just pricing that works

Accurately pricing your product for maximum growth requires a lot of market research and even more expertise on how to conduct and analyze that research. Our Price Intelligently  service combines our years of experience in the field with powerful machine learning tools to understand your target customer base and what makes them tick. We know the data to collect, the questions to ask, and the people to ask them of. This is important because businesses in different stages of growth need different strategies for evaluating pricing. Additionally, every business has a unique set of potential selling points and a unique target audience to pitch to.

You need someone in your corner who knows how to evaluate pricing options for your specific businesses. With our help, you can be confident that your pricing strategy and chosen price points will unlock growth levers at your company that have been sitting idle, because they'll be tailored to finding and maximizing the value propositions that are unique to your business. 

Which pricing strategy is best? 

This depends on your business model. For SaaS and subscription companies, as well as many others, we recommend value-based pricing.

How do you determine the selling prices of a product?

First, find a pricing strategy that fits well with your business model and product. As you've seen, pricing strategies differ, but they all give clear instructions for how to use them to set prices.

What is the simplest pricing strategy?

Since you only need to add up the cost to make your product and add a percentage to it, cost-plus pricing is the simplest form of pricing to use.

What is a pricing curve?

A pricing curve is a graph that shows you the number of people who are willing to pay a given price for a product.

What are the 4 major pricing strategies?

Value-based,  competition-based , cost-plus, and  dynamic pricing are all models  that are used frequently, depending on the industry and business model in question.

Related reading

Take a look at all our Webinars and Events!

Elevate Pricing with Elasticity

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Blogs & articles, how to write a pricing strategy for my business plan.

In this blog you will learn about the importance of choosing the right pricing strategy for a successful business plan.

Why is a pricing strategy important for a business plan?

A business plan is a written document outlining a company’s core business practices – from products and services offered to marketing, financial planning and budget, but also pricing strategy. This business plan can be very lengthy, outlining every aspect of the business in detail. Or it can be very short and lean for start ups that want to be as agile as possible.

This plan can be used for external investors and relations or for internal purposes. A business plan can be useful for internal purposes because it can make sure that all the decision makers are on the same page about the most important aspects of the business.

A 1% price increase can lead to an 8% increase in profit margin.

A business plan could be very lengthy and detailed or short and lean, but in all instances, it should have a clear vision for how pricing is tackled. A pricing strategy ultimately greatly determines the profit margin of your product or service and how much revenue the company will make. Thorough research of consultancy agencies also show that pricing is very important. McKinsey even argues that a 1% prices increase can lead up to an 8% increase in profits. That is a real example of how small adjustments can have a huge impact!

It is clear that each business plan should have a section about pricing strategies. How detailed and complicated this pricing strategy should be depends for each individual business and challenges in the business environment. However, businesses should at least take some factors into account when thinking about their pricing strategy.

What factors to take into account?

The pricing strategy can best be explained in the marketing section of your business plan. In this section you should describe what price you will charge for your product or service to customers and your argumentation for why you ask this. However, businesses always balance the challenging scale of charging too much or too little. Ideally you want to find the middle, the optimal price point.

The following questions need to be answered for writing a well-structured pricing strategy in your business plan:

What is the cost of your product or service?

Most companies need to be profitable. They need to pay their expenses, their employees and return a reasonable profit. Unless you are a well-funded-winner-takes-all-growth-company such as Uber or Gorillas, you will need to earn more than you spend on your products. In order to be profitable you need to know how much your expenses are, to remain profitable overall.

How does your price compare to other alternatives in the market?

Most companies have competitors for their products or services, only few companies can act as a monopoly. Therefore, you need to know how your price compares to the other prices in the market. Are you one of the cheapest, the most expensive or somewhere in the middle?

Why is your price competitive?

When you know the prices of your competitors, you need to be able to explain why your price is better or different than that of your competitions. Do you offer more value for the same price? Do you offer less, but are you the cheapest? Or does your company offer something so unique that a premium pricing strategy sounds fair to your customer? You need to be able to stand out from the competition and price is an efficient differentiator.

What is the expected ROI (Return On Investment)?

When you set your price, you need to be able to explain how much you are expeciting to make. Will the price you offer attract enough customers to make your business operate profitable? Let’s say your expenses are 10.000 euros per month, what return will your price get you for your expected amount of sales?

Top pricing strategies for a business plan

Now you know why pricing is important for your business plan, “but what strategies are best for me?” you may ask. Well, let’s talk pricing strategies. There are plenty of pricing strategies and which ones are best for which business depends on various factors and the industry. However, here is a list of 9 pricing strategies that you can use for your business plan.

• Cost-plus pricing
• Competitive pricing
• Key-Value item pricing
• Dynamic pricing
• Premium pricing
• Hourly based pricing
• Customer-value based pricing
• Psychological pricing
• Geographical pricing

Most of the time, businesses do not use a single pricing strategy in their business but rather a combination of pricing strategies. Cost-plus pricing or competitor based pricing can be good starting points for pricing, but if you make these dynamic or take geographical regions into account, then your pricing becomes even more advanced!

Pricing strategies should not be left out of your business plan. Having a clear vision on how you are going to price your product(s) and service(s) helps you to achieve the best possible profit margins and revenue. If you are able to answer thoughtfully on the questions asked in this blog then you know that you have a rather clear vision on your pricing strategy.

If there are still some things unclear or vague, then it would be adviceable to learn more about all the possible pricing strategies . You can always look for inspiration to our business cases. Do you want to know more about pricing or about SYMSON? Do not hesitate to contact us!

Do you want a free demo to try how SYMSON can help your business with margin improvement or pricing management? Do you want to learn more? Schedule a call with a consultant and book a 20 minute brainstorm session!

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HAVE A QUESTION?

Frequently asked questions, related blogs.

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Pricing Strategy in a Business Plan: Deep Dive

• March 21, 2024
• Business Plan , How to Write

In this blog post, we’re diving into how to choose and explain your pricing strategy in your business plan. We’ll cover different pricing models like penetration, premium, and value-based. We’ll also dive into how to present your pricing strategy in your business plan.

Whether you’re starting a new business or preparing a business plan for an existing company, getting your pricing right is key to attracting customers and making a profit. Let’s break down how to make your pricing strategy clear and effective. Let’s dive in!

What are the different pricing strategies?

Different pricing strategies can significantly influence demand, profitability, and market positioning for businesses. Here’s an overview of some common pricing strategies:

• Cost-Plus Pricing: Adds a markup percentage to the cost of producing a product or delivering a service. It’s simple to calculate and ensures a profit margin.
• Value-Based Pricing: Sets prices based on the perceived value to the customer rather than the cost of production. This strategy focuses on the benefits and value the product or service brings to the customer.
• Competitive Pricing: Prices are set based on competitors’ pricing structures. Businesses might price their products slightly lower than competitors to gain market share or at a similar level to match the market rate.
• Penetration Pricing: Involves setting lower prices to enter a competitive market and attract customers quickly. The goal is to gain market share and then gradually increase prices.
• Premium Pricing: Setting the price of a product or service higher than the competitors. This strategy is used to signal superior quality or exclusivity to justify the higher cost.
• Dynamic Pricing: Adjusting prices in real-time based on market demand, competition, and other factors. Common in industries like hospitality and airlines.
• Freemium Pricing: Offering a basic product or service for free while charging for premium features. This strategy is often used by software and service companies to attract users.
• Bundle Pricing: Combining several products or services and selling them at a single price, often lower than the total cost of buying each item separately. This can increase the perceived value and encourage sales.

How to choose a pricing strategy

Here’s how to come up with an efficient pricing strategy:

Align Pricing with Market Strategy

Begin by articulating how your pricing strategy complements your overall market strategy. If you’re aiming for market penetration, explain how your pricing is designed to attract a large volume of customers by being more affordable than competitors.

For a premium pricing strategy, discuss the exceptional quality, exclusivity, or unique value your offerings bring, justifying higher price points.

If you’re adopting a value-based pricing model instead, illustrate how your pricing directly correlates with the perceived value to the customer, possibly through superior benefits or cost savings they provide.

Relate Pricing to the Target Market

Your pricing strategy should be closely tied to your understanding of your target market .

For instance, if your target market highly values sustainability and is willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, your pricing should reflect this. Similarly, if you’re targeting a price-sensitive segment, explain how your pricing strategy enables you to offer competitive value while maintaining profitability.

Consider the Competitive Landscape

A comprehensive pricing strategy also considers the competitive landscape . Analyze your competitors’ pricing and how your strategy positions you within this context.

Are you offering a more affordable alternative to premium products, or are you introducing a higher-quality option in a market segment dominated by low-cost competitors?

Discuss how your pricing strategy gives you a competitive edge, whether it’s by filling a gap in the market, offering better value, or challenging the status quo with innovative pricing models.

Where to include your prices in your business plan?

In your business plan, prices should be detailed under “Products or Services” within the Business Overview section of your business.

This part of the plan not only describes what you are offering but also provides an ideal opportunity to outline your pricing strategy and the specific prices or price ranges of your products or services.

Here, you can explain how your pricing fits into the market and aligns with your overall business strategy, giving potential investors or lenders a clear understanding of your approach to generating revenue.

Remember your pricing strategy should align with your financial projections (projected income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet). Indeed, you will need to give some high-level explanation of how you came up with these financial projections, based on your pricing strategy too.

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Pricing Strategies and Models Explained

4 min. read

Updated January 18, 2024

What’s the right price for your product or service?

What price will make you profitable and attract customers?

Not sure? Keep reading to learn the basics of pricing strategy and setting the right price.

• What is a pricing strategy?

A pricing strategy is the overarching approach or plan a business uses to determine the price of its products or services. 

It considers various factors such as market conditions, competition, production costs, and the perceived value to the customer. The ultimate goal of a pricing strategy is to maximize profitability, maintain or grow market share, and ensure long-term sustainability while meeting the company’s other objectives.

• What is a pricing model?

A pricing model is the specific method used to set the price of a product or service. It provides a structure to implement your chosen pricing strategy.

What’s the difference?

The distinction between a pricing strategy and a pricing model lies in their scope, purpose, and application.

The pricing strategy aligns prices with business objectives, market conditions, and customer perceptions. A pricing strategy considers market entry tactics, customer psychology, brand positioning, and long-term market objectives. 

The pricing model is the mathematical method you use to create a specific price. It usually involves manufacturing costs, customer demand, and competitor pricing. 

Think of the strategy as the roadmap guiding where a company wants to go with its pricing and the model as the vehicle it uses to get there.

• Types of pricing strategies

1. Penetration pricing

Setting an initial low price to quickly attract customers and establish a market presence. Ideal for new entrants wanting rapid market share. 

Example: Streaming services offering discounted rates for the first three months.

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2. Price skimming

Starting with a high price and then reducing it over time. Suitable for innovative products. 

Example: New tech gadgets like smartphones often use this strategy.

3. Value-based pricing

Pricing based on the perceived value to the customer rather than production costs. Works best for unique products or services. 

Example: Luxury brands like Rolex or Louis Vuitton.

4. Competitive pricing

Setting prices based on competitor rates. Ideal for industries with many competitors offering similar products. 

Example: Supermarkets pricing staple goods.

5. Premium pricing

Charging a higher price to reflect a product’s premium status and quality. 

Example: Brands like Apple or Tesla.

6. Economy pricing

Offering no-frills products at a low price. Common in mass markets. 

Example: Budget airlines like Ryanair.

7. Bundle pricing

Grouping multiple products together at a discounted rate. Useful for increasing sales volume. 

Example: Cable TV packages.

8. Price leadership

Price leadership occurs when one dominant company, usually the largest or most influential in an industry, sets the price of a product or service, and other competitors in the market follow suit.

Example:  

OPEC often influences global oil prices by adjusting its production levels. 

9. Preemptive pricing

Intended to drive away competition or deter others from entering the marketplace by deliberately selling at below market prices (temporarily, of course).

Amazon launching the Kindle with e-books priced below typical hardcover prices. 

• Types of pricing models

1. Cost-plus pricing

Calculating the cost of production and adding a fixed gross margin. Common in retail. 

Example: A shirt that costs $20 to make might be sold for $40.

2. Geographic pricing

Adjusting prices based on location or region. 

Example: A software product priced differently for the U.S. versus India.

3. Dynamic pricing model

Prices change based on real-time factors. 

Example: Uber’s surge pricing during high demand.

4. Tiered pricing model

Different prices for varying levels of product features. See an example of how tiers and introductory pricing can be used to introduce and grow your business.

Example: Software packages with Basic, Pro, and Premium tiers.

5. Freemium model

Basic services are free, with charges for advanced features. 

Example: Spotify offers free music streaming but charges for an ad-free experience.

6. Subscription model

Recurring fee for product or service access. 

Example: Monthly Netflix subscriptions.

7. Pay-what-you-want model

Customers choose their price. Often seen in indie industries. 

Example: Some indie video games or music albums.

8. Volume-based pricing

Decreased price per unit with increased quantity. 

Example: Wholesale retailers like Costco.

9. License pricing model

One-time fee for product usage over a period. 

Example: Microsoft Office’s one-time purchase option.

10. High-low pricing model 

Products have a higher standard price but are frequently discounted. 

Example: Department stores having frequent sales.

• How to choose your pricing strategy

Selecting a pricing strategy comes down to cost, goals, and customer perception. Here’s how:

1. Set business objectives

Define clear goals, such as maximizing profit, penetrating the market, establishing a premium brand image, or achieving specific revenue targets. Your pricing should align with these objectives.

2. Understand your costs

Consider both direct costs (like raw materials and labor) and expenses (such as rent and marketing). Factor in variable costs that change with production volume and expenses that remain constant. Determine the break-even point to identify the minimum price needed to cover all expenses.

3. Analyze the competition

Research competitor prices and understand their value propositions. Identify their market positioning, whether premium or budget and observe any historical pricing trends or changes to gauge market reactions.

4. Know your audience

Understand your target audience’s demographics and what they value in a product. Gauge their price sensitivity and gather feedback on pricing preferences to ensure your price resonates with them.

5. Test and adjust

Before a broad rollout, test the new pricing on a segment of your audience. Refine your pricing based on customer input.

• More on pricing products and services

Check out our other startup pricing resources to turn your pricing strategy into profitable steps for your business.

• How to price your products
• How to price your services
• Mistakes to avoid when setting prices

Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.

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12 real-world pricing strategy examples.

Pricing your products and services is one of the most daunting yet most crucial parts of doing business. The goal of strategic pricing is to maximize your profit. It’s a lot more complicated than raising your prices or increasing your profit margins.

Every business is different. They have different products, different customers and different market share. It makes sense that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all pricing strategy. So how do you make the most out of your sales without alienating a potential customer? And how does your pricing align with the brand identity you want to convey?

Read on for our full guide on how to price your product or service. This includes 12 common pricing strategies and real-life examples you can learn from

In this article, we’ll cover:

What Is a Pricing Strategy/Pricing Model?

The four cs of pricing your product, the four main pricing strategies you should know, other kinds of pricing strategy, pricing strategy benefits, key takeaways.

Most marketing guides use pricing strategy and pricing model interchangeably. There are some key differences that you should keep in mind.

A pricing strategy is how the seller uses pricing to achieve a certain business objective. It deals with the psychological reaction that a consumer has towards certain kinds of prices.

A pricing model, on the other hand, is how the seller goes about implementing the pricing strategy. Pricing models are usually specific and quantitative in nature. Here are some of the most common pricing models:

• Hourly: You charge an hourly rate (e.g., $40/hour) and then bill the client for the total number of hours worked.
• Project-based: You charge a flat rate for the entirety of the project (e.g., $5,000 for a website).
• Retainer: You charge a monthly fee for on-going deliverables (e.g., $300/month for search engine optimization).
• Performance-based: You charge a rate based on the results you produce (e.g., $100 per key performance indicator reached).
• Cost-plus pricing: You charge for the production costs (e.g., $10 to make a shirt) plus a profit markup (e.g., 100%, or total $20).

Pricing strategies work best when they take into consideration the four major pillars of pricing. These are customers, current positioning, competitors and costs. Keep the four Cs in mind when choosing the best pricing approach for your business.

Who is your target market? What is your ideal customer’s disposable income range? How much would that customer be willing to pay for your products and service? Will pricing your products/services impact your customers’ purchasing behavior or attitude towards your brand? What kind of pricing strategy speaks to your target customer the best? How does it align with your brand image and what type of value does it communicate?

Current Positioning

What is your brand identity? Which parts of the market are you catering to with your marketing efforts? Are you known as a budget or low-cost alternative, or are you a luxury business with elite clients? Are you a relatively unknown startup, or does your company already have a hold on the market? Your products and services need to be priced accordingly. The more luxury your offerings (or the more established you are as a company), the more you can demand from your customers. This is not to say you should necessarily “price high.” Your product and pricing need to work together in order to create the image that you want.

Competitors

How much are your competitors charging? If your competitors raise or lower their prices, how would that affect your sales? Are your products/services comparable, or do you offer something special for the same cost? You can use your competitors’ prices as a benchmark. Always take note of any major differences that allow you to be more flexible on your price.

It’s simple math—you can’t profit if you’re spending more than you bring in. Always take into consideration production costs (how much it costs to produce a product or service) and fixed costs. (What you have to pay regardless of how many units you sell—e.g., marketing, rent, staffing, other operating expenses , etc.). A common method for this using cost plus pricing. Determine your costs, then determine how much additional you want to charge on top of that.

There are dozens of strategies in existence. There are four basic strategies that provide the foundations for more complex pricing. These are: economy pricing, penetration pricing, price skimming and premium pricing.

Pricing Strategy Examples: #1 Economy Pricing

Under the economy pricing strategy, your company charges as little as possible to entice the largest number of potential customers. This works by lowering operating and production costs as much as you can. Because your profit margins are usually lower, you also have to focus on volume.

This pricing approach is most commonly seen at dollar stores. It’s also common at chain supermarkets like Target or Walmart. However, if you’re a small business, this tactic is a bit tricky. You may not have the volume, market share, or brand awareness to set your products and services at the lowest possible price to reach that target customer.

Pricing Strategy Examples: #2 Penetration Pricing

If you’re a relatively new business, you may want to consider pricing for optimum market penetration. This means that you initially sell your product or service at a low introductory price. This will attract new customers. Then raise prices one you’ve secured your share in the market.

You can see this pricing strategy at work with telecommunications or cable companies. They’ll initially charge a lower-than-market rate for the first month or so. This will entice customers to sign up for their services. There are two potential downsides to this strategy. First, your profits will take a hit. Second, some customers may not buy into the higher price.

Pricing Strategy Examples: #3 Price Skimming

Think of price skimming as the opposite of penetration pricing strategy. You start with a higher initial cost, and then lower the price over time. This occurs as consumer demand falls and newer goods take over the market. This is a great way to cover production and marketing costs early. It also reinforces the idea that your brand is one of quality and luxury.

Price skimming is very common in the tech/electronics industry. Whenever a new flagship phone from Apple or Samsung comes out, prices are high. However, if a customer buys the same phone a year or even just a few months later, they could get it at a much lower price.

Pricing Strategy Examples: #4 Premium Pricing

It may seem counterintuitive to price your product at a premium price point. Customers can actually respond positively to higher prices. Because only a few people can afford them, expensive products create the illusion of exclusivity, status and quality.

You can opt for a premium price if your product or brand has a competitive advantage. The trade-off is that though your business will likely sell fewer units. The high profit margin should be able to make up for loss of volume. Premium pricing can be found in most industries. This includes restaurant and hospitality to automotive to fashion.

While economy, penetration, skimming and premium pricing are the most common pricing strategies, they’re not the only ones you can use. Below are eight more approaches that could benefit your business.

Psychological Pricing

Also known as charm pricing, psychological pricing takes advantage of the fact that humans are emotional by nature. We respond to things emotionally and impulsively rather than logically.

The biggest example of this is when sellers mark their prices as $0.99 or $0.75. This is rather than rounding up to the nearest whole number—like when an item costs $99.99 instead of $100. This is because we see and react to the first set of numbers. We immediately think it is cheaper, even though there’s a negligible difference in cost.

Bundle/Product Line Pricing

If you have a range of products or services that complement each other, you can bundle together products.  This may allow you to charge a lower price than if customers bought them individually. This is called bundle pricing. This is a great way to get rid of stock, move products and encourage more spending.

Retail brands will bundle together related items. Service providers have package deals if you get multiple services at one time. The tricky part of product line pricing is that you have to make sure that your profit loss doesn’t outweigh how much you earn by pushing multiple products at the same time.

Promotional Pricing

Promotional pricing is also known as discount pricing. You sell your products or services at a discounted rate for a short period of time. This could involve slashing off a percentage of the price. This provides vouchers or coupons, launching two-for-one deals or giving away free items with every purchase.

Promo pricing follows the idea that some profit is better than no profit. We recommend using this strategy on high-volume periods (e.g., the holidays). It also works at the end of the season when moving products out of inventory is a higher priority than pure profit.

Geographical Pricing

If you are a local business, then geographical pricing isn’t for you. But if you’re an international company that sells all over the world, then this pricing approach is very relevant.

With geographical pricing, you price your goods and services according to geographical factors such as cost of living, average income, legislation, taxes, and of course, supply and demand. For example, gas stations in a busy urban area are likely to have different prices than similar stations in a rural town.

Captive Product Pricing

This pricing strategy works best if customers have to keep buying from you to continue using your products. Examples of this are shaving products and subscription services like the Dollar Shave Club. Once you buy a razor from a particular brand, the customer will have to keep buying blades and other accessories from you since other brands won’t be compatible.

You can charge a low price for the initial buy-in (e.g., razor handles, printers), and then make up for any profit loss through the renewables (e.g., blades, printer ink).

Optional Product Pricing

You might be familiar with optional product pricing through another term: upselling. With upselling, you can tack on extra services or products for a slightly higher cost. You see airlines using this strategy all of the time, with extra charges for optional services such as baggage, priority check-in, in-flight meals and exit row seats. The idea behind this is that it’s easier and more profitable to convince a current customer to spend more than it is to try and attract a new customer.

Value Pricing

Value-based pricing means basing your prices off how much value your customers feel they are getting when they buy your product or service, instead of deciding prices based on how much a product or service costs to make. The idea behind this is that customers are willing to spend more money on something that they feel is worth it and provides them with value.

For example, a T-shirt may cost just $5 or $10 to produce. But because there’s some value attached to the style and brand, some companies may charge as much as hundreds or even thousands of dollars for it.

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a pricing strategy that’s variable instead of fixed. This means that, depending on the time or other external factors, prices can and will fluctuate. You see this often in the tourism industry—hotels and airlines usually charge higher rates during peak season and will lower their rates when there is less consumer demand.

Flexible pricing systems often use technology to generate the best rates depending on market factors. While this makes it easier to maximize profits, gathering the data necessary to implement dynamic pricing may be too time-consuming or expensive for small businesses.

There are several benefits to using pricing strategies like the ones above. Some of these benefits include:

• Allowing for increased margins on higher priced items. In the case where your margins are based on the initial sale only, using a pricing strategy that encourages recurring purchases will yield higher profits.
• Increasing competitiveness. When everyone else in your industry is jacking up prices and cutting discounts to maximize short-term profits, it might be time to rethink your approach. Using a pricing strategy that entices customers to keep buying from you will make your business more competitive and increase customer loyalty.
• Price flexibility. By using geographical pricing, captive product pricing and dynamic/flexible pricing, you can charge customers different prices based on certain criteria.
• Simplifying your marketing messaging. If your marketing message focuses on value and benefits rather than price, you can make it easier for customers to understand and trust your brand.
• Reducing customer price resistance. When your customers feel that they’re getting a good deal, they’ll be more likely to trust and buy from you.

There are many benefits to having a good pricing strategy. By using one or more of the pricing strategies discussed above, you can increase your revenue and grow your business.

The right pricing strategy will help you get more customers and increase your profits. But what works for one company may not necessarily work for you—even if they’re in the same industry. It’s important to take a look at your specific marketing strategy and circumstances before choosing the most effective price strategy. Check out our resource hub for more information!

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What Is the Purpose of the "Loss Leader" Strategy?

Objectives of the product life cycle, markup vs. profit margin.

• Differentiation Strategy With a Product Life Cycle Focus
• Long-Term Pricing Strategy

Starting a new business or launching a new product or service requires detailed thought and planning. A critical piece of that planning is deciding how you should price your products and services. The pricing strategy you choose dramatically impacts the profit margins of your business, and determines the pace at which your business can grow. Several pricing strategies exist for products and services, and choosing the best for your business depends greatly upon your overall long-term business strategy.

What are Competitors Charging?

Competition-based pricing strategies focus solely on what the competition is charging and strive to meet or beat those prices. Sometimes this strategy is referred to as a rock-bottom pricing strategy, or a low price leader strategy. The goal is to best your biggest competitors based on pricing alone.

Competition-based pricing strategy is a popular choice among many large retailers on the internet. Because the same products are available from multiple sources, the consumer buying decision is simply to select the retailer with the lowest price.

This pricing strategy is a difficult one for small businesses to maintain, however. That's because it provides very narrow profit margins that make it challenging for the business to achieve enough momentum to grow.

Penetration Strategy Strategy

A penetration pricing strategy is used as a loyalty-building or market-entry tool. The penetration pricing strategy offers a high-quality product at a much lower than expected price. This combination helps the business enter a new market even when strong competitors exist, and it builds loyalty with new customers from the beginning.

The penetration strategy can dramatically increase the lifetime value of customers, because they're "hooked" with the outstanding first product offering and – assuming future products are just as high quality – they are more willing to buy additional products from the company long into the future.

Pricing a Loss Leader

Also known as a promotional pricing strategy, the goal of the loss leader pricing strategy is to get new customers even if you do not make a profit from the initial sale. By taking a loss on the first sale, businesses can offer related products or upsells at normal prices. Despite loosing profits on the promotional product or loss leader, enough profits are normally made from the additional regular-priced products and services to sustain the strategy for the long term.

Grocery store sales utilize the loss leader pricing strategy on a regular basis. They discount one or more items on their shelves to the point of taking a loss of profit, with the intention of getting customers into their stores. Once there, the customers are likely to buy more than just those products that are on sale.

High Quality at a Premium Price 

Premium pricing takes advantage of a segment of consumers who believe high quality comes at a premium price. Instead of trying to have the lowest price among competitors, businesses who use the premium pricing strategy attempt to price their products and services at the highest in their market. This strategy limits the customer base available to market products and services to, but also provides much higher profit margins for each sale.

• Different Pricing Strategies: Which Is Right for Your Business?
• Investopedia: Penetration Pricing

Kathy Burns-Millyard has been a professional writer since 1997. Originally specializing in business, technology, environment and health topics, Burns now focuses on home, garden and hobby interest articles. Her garden work has appeared on GardenGuides.com and other publications. She enjoys practicing Permaculture in her home garden near Tucson, Ariz.

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How to Create a Pricing Structure

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You can’t open a business without answering this fundamental question: How much do I charge? Even with an answer in hand, you may find sales are slow, an indicator you may be charging more than customers will pay. Or your sales are great, but you’re charging too little for a healthy profit.

Pricing is one of the hardest business aspects to get right. I built several software products for startups and large businesses where I was responsible for pricing. I know the challenges of getting pricing right while factoring in considerations such as costs and profit margin.

Pricing is tough because it involves many variables. It affects all business areas, including sales techniques such as how to prospect for sales, sales forecasting, and the entire sales cycle. A pricing structure solves these issues and helps you achieve your pricing goals.

Overview: What is a pricing structure?

A pricing structure defines and organizes prices for your company’s products and services. The objective is to charge a rate that aligns with your pricing strategy while balancing profits with what the market will bear to avoid over- or under-charging customers.

A pricing structure prices products and services so that it makes sense to customers and gets them to buy. For instance, you might offer a discount when customers buy more than one product.

Several pricing structures exist. These are common ones:

• Flat rate: You choose one price for your offerings and you’re done. This works great when you have a single product or service, or you charge an hourly rate that doesn’t change.
• Tiered pricing: This is a popular option. You set different product prices based on value. The greater the value, the higher the price. An example is a software product. The basic version is one price, and if you want more features, you upgrade and pay a higher price.
• Pay per use: This pricing structure charges based on how much of your offering is used. A typical example is electricity. The more electricity you consume, the more you pay.
• Razor-blade pricing: This approach is called "razor-and-blade" because razor blades are an example of how the model works. You sell a core product, the razor, then make money from selling complementary products: the razorblades.

Prices are dynamic. Your competition may change prices. Your costs increase as suppliers charge more. The pricing structure keeps you organized in this dynamic environment.

A robust pricing structure is important to maximize sales and profit. If your pricing structure is too simplistic or lacks price controls, particularly in B2B sales, you end up with prices all over the map.

I’ve seen firsthand how sales reps abandon the price list to make up their own pricing. In these cases, the business loses money because of unnecessary discounting and lack of price fences.

Pricing structure vs. pricing strategy: What’s the difference?

Pricing strategy is the overarching approach used to set pricing for a company’s products and services. It doesn’t define actual price points, but the pricing structure is a consequence of the strategy, and it’s where you set the price customers see.

You must first set a pricing strategy before you can build a price structure since the former dictates the latter. Netflix is a good pricing structure example. It uses a value-based pricing strategy to lure customers from cable television subscriptions.

Netflix applies a tiered subscription pricing structure to articulate its pricing strategy. The tiered pricing enables customers to choose an option based on their needs, such as selecting a higher priced plan for high-definition picture quality. Netflix uses a free trial as a carrot to get sign-ups.

Netflix uses a tiered pricing structure for its subscriptions. Image source: Author

How to set up a pricing structure

Pricing structures can be simple or complex. Start with a simple approach to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the process, especially if you sell several products or services. Then evolve your pricing. These steps show you how.

Step 1: Do your homework

Before you tackle pricing, do your homework. Research and understand your target customers, the competition, and the marketplace. Depending on the industry you operate in, other factors may affect price, such as local laws and industry regulations.

Business costs are the other research area. These costs aren’t limited to the production of your goods or services. Rent, employee payroll, taxes, Sales and marketing, and other factors contribute to your costs.

This information influences your pricing strategy. Once a strategy is in place, you’re ready to build your pricing structure.

Tips for doing your homework

This first step is the foundation for effective pricing. These tips can help.

• Know your customers: No matter your product or service, you must identify your target audience and learn as much about them as possible. This includes their income level and why they are attracted to your offerings. Do this through customer surveys, reading research online, or simply asking your customers for feedback, not just about your business, but also what they think of competitor prices and pricing structures.
• Examine competition: Look at competitors and dissect their pricing structures. Why are they using that approach? Should you use the same? See what they typically charge for an offering similar to yours. Check their website, visit their location, or call them. This research ensures you’re not charging too much or using an overly complex pricing structure, which can drive customers to competitors. It also identifies if you’re too far below the market price, which eats into your profits.
• Understand the market: Your local market consists of several elements: your geography, industry, and addressable audience. For example, a luxury car dealership’s business is limited by the number of people with the income level to afford the cars who live nearby. You want to know your market, including how it may evolve over time and what trends can affect you later. Much of this information is available online, although some sources may require you to purchase the data.

Step 2: Define success metrics

You’ve done the research and set a pricing strategy aligned with your company’s positioning, which defines how your business is presented to customers. Now decide how to measure your sales.

Do you track the number of units sold? Is your business subscription based, so you’re looking at subscription sign-ups? Do you employ a sales team? If yes, track the number and amount of closed sales.

These success metrics help you identify your pricing structure and measure its effectiveness.

Tips for defining success metrics

Your business flies blind without metrics. Define them with the suggestions below.

• Track what’s important to your business: The metrics should align with your company’s offerings. For example, some products may require a higher price point. In this case, use a tiered pricing structure, and track sales separately for each tier. Doing so gives you visibility into each pricing tier’s performance.
• Look at your sales process: Examine how you generate sales. Should you bundle products or services together? Do you offer greater benefits when customers pay more? Does demand fluctuate seasonally or because of other factors? A bed-and-breakfast owner may have a room with a view that generates a higher price point. Tracking bookings by room type becomes a necessity to capture this factor.

Step 3: Find a base price

Establish a base price to build your pricing structure. The base price is the foundation for pricing decisions, even if the amount isn’t applied to all offerings.

The base price gives you a starting point from which to assess higher price points, how much to discount when you want to generate demand, and other pricing decisions.

Tips for finding your base price

Setting your base price can prove tricky. These recommendations can help.

• Factor your costs: Your base price should cover your costs, and include some markup. This gives you flexibility to discount when you employ pricing strategies such as bundling.
• Evaluate value: Your offerings hold higher value to some customers than others. That’s why it’s important to define your target audience. If you sell organic groceries, a customer who cares about eating healthy food will happily pay more for organic food. Your research helps to evaluate your offering’s value to arrive at a base price.

Step 4: Develop pricing models

This is the culmination of the other steps. Using your success metrics and base price, model how you see your business growing.

This pricing model helps you assess which pricing structure makes the most sense. For instance, with vacation rentals, if your business is seasonal, your model should account for more units rented during your high season.

You can modify your base price up or down to evaluate the impact on revenue. From there, try different pricing structures to determine how you want to price your offerings.

Tips for developing pricing models

This is where the rubber meets the road. Here are suggestions to help.

• Establish fences: Set appropriate buyer and price fences in your model. These are criteria for certain price points to take effect. This approach is critical if you rely on others to generate sales, such as sales reps, because the fences act as guardrails to prevent a price that’s too low while they’re prospecting or performing lead management during the sales process. When you run a New Year’s sale that ends on New Year’s Day, you’re setting a time-based fence. If you provide a discount based on the volume of units bought, you’re setting a purchase quantity fence.
• Keep it simple: The first time you model pricing, keep it simple and don’t get lost in the details. If you use tiered pricing, limit the tiers to no more than three. Keep discounts and special offers to a minimum, or consider excluding them until you’ve collected real world pricing data by seeing how customers respond to your pricing structure before adding complexity into the mix.

Step 5: Experiment to grow market share and profit

Despite your best efforts, you won’t know how customers will respond to your pricing until you try them. Some business owners are hesitant to test, thinking once a price is in front of customers, it’s difficult to change without alienating them.

That’s not the case. Today’s customers are used to dynamic pricing. Think of airlines that change prices daily, or companies such as Amazon, where the price for goods can suddenly plummet through their lightning deals before rising back to full price.

Introduce your pricing structure, collect real world data, and see how your success metrics are trending. Customer engagement software, such as CRM software , collects customer data you can use for this exercise.

Get a baseline, such as a month’s worth of sales. Then experiment. See what kinds of pricing approaches drive sales or help you grow market share, then double down on those to grow your business.

Tips for experimenting

If you don’t test and experiment, it’s an uphill battle to grow.

• Choose low-risk tests: Start tests in a low-risk environment. Choose customers you, or if you have a sales team, your sales management have a strong relationship with. Select a small sample size or a specific segment of your customer base. Adjust based on your findings, and continue testing until you see your success metrics moving in the right direction. That’s when you can roll out the pricing structure to all customers.
• Look at non-sales outcomes: Analyze if certain pricing structures incur higher costs in time, money, or effort. Even if sales increase, a labor-intensive pricing program could eat up profits due to increased employee hours. Also consider how your pricing approach affects customer perception relative to competitors.

Final advice on pricing structures

Pricing is a lever to grow your business, and its impact on your customers is the most important factor in choosing the right pricing structure for your business. Prices that draw customers in but aren’t profitable are as bad as prices that drive customers away.

Apply a pricing structure that strikes the right balance and makes the most sense for your business model and customers. Experiment to find that balance, and watch your profits grow.

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7 Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own (2024)

Need support creating your business plan? Check out these business plan examples for inspiration.

Any aspiring entrepreneur researching how to start a business will likely be advised to write a business plan. But few resources provide business plan examples to really guide you through writing one of your own.

Here are some real-world and illustrative business plan examples to help you craft your business plan .

7 business plan examples: section by section

The business plan examples in this article follow this template:

• Executive summary.  An introductory overview of your business.
• Company description.  A more in-depth and detailed description of your business and why it exists.
• Market analysis.  Research-based information about the industry and your target market.
• Products and services.  What you plan to offer in exchange for money.
• Marketing plan.   The promotional strategy to introduce your business to the world and drive sales.
• Logistics and operations plan.  Everything that happens in the background to make your business function properly.
• Financial plan.  A breakdown of your numbers to show what you need to get started as well as to prove viability of profitability.
• Executive summary

Your  executive summary  is a page that gives a high-level overview of the rest of your business plan. It’s easiest to save this section for last.

In this  free business plan template , the executive summary is four paragraphs and takes a little over half a page:

• Company description

You might repurpose your company description elsewhere, like on your About page, social media profile pages, or other properties that require a boilerplate description of your small business.

Soap brand ORRIS  has a blurb on its About page that could easily be repurposed for the company description section of its business plan.

You can also go more in-depth with your company overview and include the following sections, like in the example for Paw Print Post:

• Business structure.  This section outlines how you  registered your business —as an  LLC , sole proprietorship, corporation, or other  business type . “Paw Print Post will operate as a sole proprietorship run by the owner, Jane Matthews.”
• Nature of the business.  “Paw Print Post sells unique, one-of-a-kind digitally printed cards that are customized with a pet’s unique paw prints.”
• Industry.  “Paw Print Post operates primarily in the pet industry and sells goods that could also be categorized as part of the greeting card industry.”
• Background information.  “Jane Matthews, the founder of Paw Print Post, has a long history in the pet industry and working with animals, and was recently trained as a graphic designer. She’s combining those two loves to capture a niche in the market: unique greeting cards customized with a pet’s paw prints, without needing to resort to the traditional (and messy) options of casting your pet’s prints in plaster or using pet-safe ink to have them stamp their ‘signature.’”
• Business objectives.  “Jane will have Paw Print Post ready to launch at the Big Important Pet Expo in Toronto to get the word out among industry players and consumers alike. After two years in business, Jane aims to drive $150,000 in annual revenue from the sale of Paw Print Post’s signature greeting cards and have expanded into two new product categories.”
• Team.  “Jane Matthews is the sole full-time employee of Paw Print Post but hires contractors as needed to support her workflow and fill gaps in her skill set. Notably, Paw Print Post has a standing contract for five hours a week of virtual assistant support with Virtual Assistants Pro.”

Your  mission statement  may also make an appearance here.  Passionfruit  shares its mission statement on its company website, and it would also work well in its example business plan.

• Market analysis

The market analysis consists of research about supply and demand, your target demographics, industry trends, and the competitive landscape. You might run a SWOT analysis and include that in your business plan. 

Here’s an example  SWOT analysis  for an online tailored-shirt business:

You’ll also want to do a  competitive analysis  as part of the market research component of your business plan. This will tell you who you’re up against and give you ideas on how to differentiate your brand. A broad competitive analysis might include:

• Target customers
• Unique value add  or what sets their products apart
• Sales pitch
• Price points  for products
• Shipping  policy
• Products and services

This section of your business plan describes your offerings—which products and services do you sell to your customers? Here’s an example for Paw Print Post:

• Marketing plan

It’s always a good idea to develop a marketing plan  before you launch your business. Your marketing plan shows how you’ll get the word out about your business, and it’s an essential component of your business plan as well.

The Paw Print Post focuses on four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place. However, you can take a different approach with your marketing plan. Maybe you can pull from your existing  marketing strategy , or maybe you break it down by the different marketing channels. Whatever approach you take, your marketing plan should describe how you intend to promote your business and offerings to potential customers.

• Logistics and operations plan

The Paw Print Post example considered suppliers, production, facilities, equipment, shipping and fulfillment, and inventory.

Financial plan

The financial plan provides a breakdown of sales, revenue, profit, expenses, and other relevant financial metrics related to funding and profiting from your business.

Ecommerce brand  Nature’s Candy’s financial plan  breaks down predicted revenue, expenses, and net profit in graphs.

It then dives deeper into the financials to include:

• Funding needs
• Projected profit-and-loss statement
• Projected balance sheet
• Projected cash-flow statement

You can use this financial plan spreadsheet to build your own financial statements, including income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement.

Types of business plans, and what to include for each

A one-page business plan is meant to be high level and easy to understand at a glance. You’ll want to include all of the sections, but make sure they’re truncated and summarized:

• Executive summary: truncated
• Market analysis: summarized
• Products and services: summarized
• Marketing plan: summarized
• Logistics and operations plan: summarized
• Financials: summarized

A startup business plan is for a new business. Typically, these plans are developed and shared to secure  outside funding . As such, there’s a bigger focus on the financials, as well as on other sections that determine viability of your business idea—market research, for example.

• Market analysis: in-depth
• Financials: in-depth

Your internal business plan is meant to keep your team on the same page and aligned toward the same goal.

A strategic, or growth, business plan is a bigger picture, more-long-term look at your business. As such, the forecasts tend to look further into the future, and growth and revenue goals may be higher. Essentially, you want to use all the sections you would in a normal business plan and build upon each.

• Market analysis: comprehensive outlook
• Products and services: for launch and expansion
• Marketing plan: comprehensive outlook
• Logistics and operations plan: comprehensive outlook
• Financials: comprehensive outlook

Feasibility

Your feasibility business plan is sort of a pre-business plan—many refer to it as simply a feasibility study. This plan essentially lays the groundwork and validates that it’s worth the effort to make a full business plan for your idea. As such, it’s mostly centered around research.

Set yourself up for success as a business owner

Building a good business plan serves as a roadmap you can use for your ecommerce business at launch and as you reach each of your business goals. Business plans create accountability for entrepreneurs and synergy among teams, regardless of your  business model .

Kickstart your ecommerce business and set yourself up for success with an intentional business planning process—and with the sample business plans above to guide your own path.

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Business plan examples FAQ

How do i write a simple business plan, what is the best format to write a business plan, what are the 4 key elements of a business plan.

• Executive summary: A concise overview of the company's mission, goals, target audience, and financial objectives.
• Business description: A description of the company's purpose, operations, products and services, target markets, and competitive landscape.
• Market analysis: An analysis of the industry, market trends, potential customers, and competitors.
• Financial plan: A detailed description of the company's financial forecasts and strategies.

What are the 3 main points of a business plan?

• Concept: Your concept should explain the purpose of your business and provide an overall summary of what you intend to accomplish.
• Contents: Your content should include details about the products and services you provide, your target market, and your competition.
• Cashflow: Your cash flow section should include information about your expected cash inflows and outflows, such as capital investments, operating costs, and revenue projections.

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Run » finance, 7 smart pricing strategies to attract customers.

An effective pricing strategy is essential for continued sales success. Here's how to determine the right tactic for your business.

Setting your business’s prices may seem simple: List your product for higher than it costs you to manufacture or acquire it, and you’ll make a profit.

But your prices are more than just numbers. The way you price your products or services can be a reflection of your business’s identity, how you view and treat your competitors and how you value your customers. That’s why it’s important to have a carefully planned pricing strategy.

What to consider when setting your pricing strategy

Setting your product or service’s prices shouldn’t be a haphazard decision focused entirely on profit. It should be a calculated, informed choice in which your business identity, brand and financial stability are considered.

As with any business decision, determining your pricing strategy starts with assessing your own business’s needs and goals. This involves some commercial soul searching — what do you want your business to contribute to the economy and world? This could mean embracing a traditional retail strategy, establishing a service business mindset or emphasizing personal customer relationships in your offering.

Once you define your goals and needs, do some research on the market you’re entering. Determine three to five main competitors in the industry by conducting online research or scouting out local businesses. No matter what pricing strategy you adopt, what your competitors are doing will impact your business’s success and future decisions. Understanding your competitors’ strategies can also help you differentiate your business from other businesses in the market. In an economy where there are thousands of small businesses providing the same products and services, an effective pricing strategy can help you stand out.

A good final stage in your research is speaking with potential customers to get a feel for how they value your brand, product or service. This can give you valuable insight into how to set your pricing. This kind of research can range from casual conversations with friends and family to formal surveys of potential buyers.

While you may have already done some of this legwork when developing your business plan , it’s good to have as much insight and information as possible before you decide what pricing strategy to adopt.

Pricing strategies to attract customers to your business

There are dozens of ways you can price your products, and you may find that some work better than others — depending on the market you occupy. Consider these seven common strategies that many new businesses use to attract customers.

1. Price skimming

Skimming involves setting high prices when a product is introduced and then gradually lowering the price as more competitors enter the market. This type of pricing is ideal for businesses that are entering emerging markets. It gives companies the opportunity to capitalize on early adopters and then undercut future competitors as they join an already-developed market. A successful skimming strategy hinges largely on the market you’re looking to enter.

2. Market penetration pricing

Pricing for market penetration is essentially the opposite of price skimming. Instead of starting high and slowly lowering prices, you take over a market by undercutting your competitors. Once you develop a reliable customer base, you raise prices. Many factors go into deciding on this strategy, like your business’s ability to potentially take losses upfront to establish a strong footing in a market. It’s also crucial to develop a loyal customer base, which can require other marketing and branding strategies.

3. Premium pricing

Premium pricing is for businesses that create high-quality products and market them to high-income individuals. The key with this pricing strategy is developing a product that is high quality and that customers will consider to be high value. You’ll likely need to develop a “luxury” or “lifestyle” branding strategy to appeal to the right type of consumer.

If you’ve already launched your business, you can experiment with these strategies until you determine what works best for your business. You can also vary strategies between products depending on the market for each good or service.

4. Economy pricing

An economy pricing strategy involves targeting customers who want to save as much money as possible on whatever good or service they’re purchasing. Big box stores, like Walmart and Costco, are prime examples of economy pricing models. Like premium pricing, adopting an economy pricing model depends on your overhead costs and the overall value of your product.

5. Bundle pricing

When companies pair several products together and sell them for less money than each would be individually, it’s known as bundle pricing. Bundle pricing is a good way to move a lot of inventory quickly. A successful bundle pricing strategy involves profits on low-value items outweighing losses on high-value items included in a bundle.

6. Value-based pricing

Value-based pricing is similar to premium pricing. In this model, a company bases its pricing on how much the customer believes the product is worth. This pricing model is best for merchants who offer unique products, rather than commodities.

How do you know what a customer perceives a product to be worth? It’s hard to get an exact price, but you can use certain marketing techniques to understand the customer’s perspective. Ask for customer feedback during the product development phase, or host a focus group. Investing in your brand can also help you add “perceived value” to your product.

7. Dynamic pricing

Dynamic pricing allows you to change the price of your items based on the market demand at any given moment. Uber’s surge pricing is a great example of dynamic pricing. During low periods, Ubers can be quite an affordable option. But, when a rainstorm hits during the morning rush hour, the price of an Uber will skyrocket, given that demand is also likely to rise. Smaller merchants can do this too, depending on seasonal demand for your product or service.

Which pricing strategy is right for you?

Each of these seven strategies offers different advantages and downsides. At the very least, you must make sure your pricing strategy covers your costs and includes a margin for profit. Determining your needs upfront can clarify which strategies are ideal for your business.

Focus on finding the right range of costs, rather than pinpointing a specific number. “Don't waste time debating $500 vs. $505, because this doesn't matter as much until you have a stronger foundation beneath you,” wrote Profitwell .

Regardless of which tactic you choose, pricing your inventory properly is essential for continued business success. You may have the best product in the world, an excellent team and a beautiful storefront, but if you can’t price your products effectively, your sales will ultimately struggle.

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

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Home » Blog » Tips » 5 Pricing Strategy Examples For Different Businesses

5 Pricing Strategy Examples For Different Businesses

by Erin Ollila | Oct 14, 2015 | Tips | 0 comments

5 pricing strategy examples that will boost your profits and put your business ahead of the competition

For infant businesses, mapping out a price plan will give you a clear vision of what road you’re preparing to travel through.

A pricing strategy is what a business uses to label the cost of their products (or services) so they can gain as much profit from their sales as possible.

Sometimes it means pricing things at an expensive rate to gain profit, other instances require businesses to lower prices so that customers will flock towards them. Whether your business is a start-up, or you’re an established company that’s offering a new product or service, you’ll benefit tremendously from price plans.

Think about what customers search for during the shopping process.

All shoppers look for the best possible bargain–but do some think that an expensive product or service means the quality is better than a competitors? Or if you implement a fair and affordable increase in a popular product, will customers be accepting of this change?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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5 pricing strategy examples that will help you create your own

1. Discounted pricing

This is probably difficult to do if you’re a newborn company; but if it’s executed properly, the benefits will far exceed your expectations. The basic idea behind a discount promotional strategy is to lower your prices in order to gain new customer, but not gain a large profit.

The products you sell are at a price that’ll generate enough funds so you can break even and maintain your business, but you’ll appeal to a large pool of customers. For example, this is one of the pricing strategy examples that works best for businesses like a grocery or convenient store that offers a variety of products at an inexpensive rate. Combining discounted products and regular-priced products in one location will draw customers into the business for a discount, but indirectly encourages impulse purchasing on regular-priced products.

2. Premium pricing plans

On the flip side, a premium pricing plan will attract an exclusive pool of customers because products and services are given at an expensive rate. Think of Apple, who never discounts or has sales. They maintain their status as a premium product this way. Using premium pricing plans limits your potential buyer pool, but offers a larger profit margin, and the ability to produce a higher quality product. Psychologically, higher-priced products have a higher perceived value by customers.

3. Inverted strategy

A list of pricing strategy examples without an inverted strategy would be incomplete, even though it can be problematic for many companies. What this price plan does, is take a product or service of high quality and put it at a low (say, $1 for the first six months), or free price. Although it seems like you’re devaluing the cost of your product, the inverted strategy is a great marketing tool–especially for new businesses who simply need to build a list of customers to market to. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) businesses can most easily use this strategy, because it costs almost as much to have 100 customers as it does to have 1.

4. Competitor’s strategy

Like all of the above mentioned price plans, the value you put on your product or service has to be the best fit for your customers. When you have steep competition, some businesses concentrate on pricing your business services at the lowest possible rate. That’s not to say it will be inexpensive, but you want to beat your competitors. You’ve probably seen this strategy at gas stations that are across the street from one another. This strategy isn’t the easiest for most small business who need to profit to survive, however, if you’re a bigger business with many competitors, give your customers and leads a reason to step onto your turf.

With this strategy, if you’re selling the same exact product as the competition, there’s a great chance that they’ll ask why your prices are different. Make an effort to understand and break the pricing down for them, and show why your company is worth it. On the other hand, you could offer the same exact pricing as your competitor rather than driving down prices and perceived value in your industry, a common issue in creative service industries like design and photography.

5.  Internal pricing plan

Of all the pricing strategy examples, this one is the only price plan that is competing with itself. With the internal strategy, you’ll have to check out your inventory and see what products are similar to each other. Say you own a shoe store and hold two types of shoes that (essentially) are identical. You’ll have to price them differently so they sell. Maybe they’re the same shoe from the same designer, but one pair has rhinestones on it and the other doesn’t. Offer the shoe with the rhinestones at a higher price and leave the modest one as it was intended to cost. By comparison, the shoe without the studs on it will seem reasonably priced for people looking for an affordable shoe. If both shoes are priced individually, they’ll be more appealing to your customers.

Are there any pricing strategy examples that you use for your business? Share your answers in the comments!

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5 Easy Steps to Creating the Right Pricing Strategy

The easy steps you need to know to make pricing a key component of your company's marketing mix.

You can have the best product or service in the world, but if you don't have a solid and contextually based go-to-market (GTM) strategy and execution plan, you will fail. Marketing plays the critical role in building brand awareness, lead generation, prospect and customer nurturing. Business schools and countless business books discuss the importance of the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion) as the key components to a solid marketing approach. While all four Ps are important to a founding team's marketing strategy, the "P" I get asked the most about is pricing. Pick the right pricing model and you can transform your goals from concept to reality. Chose the wrong pricing strategy and you risk immediate failure.

Miriam Christof, principal at JustJump Marketing , and pricing coach Jenny Wholly recently hosted a pricing workshop for entrepreneurs. Creating the right pricing strategy can be excruciating. It is a complex endeavor that brings out insecurities in the best of us. Christof and Wholly cut through the potential rat-holes of pricing discussions and recommended an easy to follow five-step process:

Step 1: Determine your business goals. How you make money determines everything about your marketing and sales GTM strategy. Christof and Wholley outlined the following business goal considerations for startup founders to use as a determinant for the basis of pricing:

• Increase profitability
• Improve cash flow
• Market penetration
• Larger market share
• Increase revenue per customer
• Beat the competition
• Fill capacity and utilize resources
• New product introduction
• Reach a new segment
• Increase prospect presence
• Increase prospect conversion

Step 2: Conduct a thorough market pricing analysis. While the first step is grounded in your business goals, this step ensures that your pricing strategy considers the context of the market in which your product or service will compete. "Low cost providers like Walmart often market to a broad audience while high cost providers like Tesla market to a specific audience." If your market and product are broader with many players who offer similar products or services, chances are you will compete on price. You will "need to do everything to keep operational costs down to ensure a maximum profits margin," says Christof. Conversely, if you have a high value, highly differentiated product or service, your offering may be more conducive to premium pricing, which lends itself to a different form of targeted marketing. "With a superior product, it is important that you are able to place emphasis on high quality marketing and customer service," says Christof.

Step 3: Analyze your target audience. This steps enables you to answer why, what, and how customers will use your product or service based on their specific and urgent needs . "Be guided by the most important question: what perceived and real value does my product or service bring to the customer. What is the task they are facing? How does my product or service ease the pain associated with this task? What does my customer have to gain by using my product or service?" says Christof. Your pricing model and promotional campaigns must align with why your customer would buy your product. For example, if you have a best-of-breed product that uniquely fulfills a customer's urgent needs, value-based premium pricing may be the best strategy. Creating low-cost promotions and giveaways will confuse your customers, undercut your value, and shrink your profit margin.

Step 4: Profile your competitive landscape. Whether you are a low-cost provider or a differentiated vendor, the pricing model and price point of your competitors is a significant pricing strategy influencer. Christof suggests the following approach for direct and indirect competitors:

• Identify at least three direct competitors. Study the structure of their pricing. For example, do they have component pricing and allow for heavy discounts? Do they bundle with other products or solutions? Or, do they employ value-based pricing where clients pay a percentage of the total perceived ROI.
• Consider the substitutes a customer may use to solve the task or problem that your product or service addresses. Find out how much these indirect competitors cost the customer. And remember, sometimes your indirect competitor is the word "no". Consider of self-solutions, or no resolution, as well as other indirect vendor alternatives.

Step 5: Create a pricing strategy and execution plan. At this point, you have gathered enough information to formulate an action plan. Christof identified 10 pricing strategies to consider based on your market, customer, and competitive analysis:

• Penetration pricing: Price is artificially low to break into the market
• Economy pricing: Everyday low price with the focus on low manufacturing/delivery cost
• Premium pricing: High price for high value
• Price skimming: Go into the market with a high price, but once your competitors follow, lower your cost and implement other pricing strategies
• Promotional pricing: Discounts over a period of time, one-time deals
• Psychological pricing: Price products or services which triggers action. For example, charging .99 instead of $1.00
• Versioning: Offer different tiers for your services or products: good, better, best
• Sandwich pricing: High, medium and low priced item with the intent to drive customers to the medium priced item
• Competitive pricing: Set the price equal to what your competitors are charging and win the service game
• Value pricing: Understand the value for your customers and their willingness to pay. Also understand what alternatives do they have

After you have completed the five steps, take the time to work the steps backwards. This will help you ensure that the GTM actions you chose to take give you the best shot at successfully competing in your target market segments, gaining revenue and market share.

A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta

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Free Small Business Plan Templates and Examples

By Kate Eby | April 27, 2022

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We’ve compiled the most useful collection of free small business plan templates for entrepreneurs, project managers, development teams, investors, and other stakeholders, as well as a list of useful tips for filling out a small business template.

Included on this page, you’ll find a simple small business template and a one-page small business plan template . You can also download a fill-in-the-blank small business plan template , and a sample small business plan template to get started.

Small Business Plan Template

Download Small Business Plan Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs  

Use this small business plan template to identify trends and demographics in the company overview. Highlight how your product or service uniquely benefits consumers in the offerings section, and note your proposed timeline, milestones, and the key performance metrics (KPIs) you will use to measure your success. This template has all the components of a standard business plan, from the executive summary through financing details.

Small Business Plan Sample Template

Download Small Business Plan Sample Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs  

Use this small business plan sample template to draft the subsections and headings of the contents of your plan. This template provides editable sample text that shows you how to organize and create a ready-to-be-implemented business plan. This sample template helps remove the guesswork of what to include in a small business plan.

Simple Small Business Plan Template

Download Simple Small Business Plan Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this streamlined, customizable, simple small business plan template to chart revenue, expenses, and net profit or loss forecasts with sample graphics. Order your small business plan with numbered subsections and list them in a table of contents. Supplement the plan with additional information in the appendix for a complete business plan that you can present to investors.

Small Business Plan Chart Template

Download Small Business Plan Chart Template Microsoft PowerPoint | Google Slides

Use this small business plan chart template to plan and track month-by-month and annual business planning. The flexible color-coded bar chart simplifies tracking and allows you to customize the plan to meet your needs. Add tasks, track owner status, and adjust the timeline to chart your progress with this dynamic, visually rich small business planning tool.

Small Business Plan Outline Template

Download Small Business Plan Outline Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

Use this small business plan outline template to jumpstart a plan for your small business. This template includes the nine essential elements of a traditional business plan, plus a title page, a table of contents, and an appendix to ensure that your document is complete, comprehensive, and in order. Easily simplify or expand the outline to meet your company’s needs.

Printable Small Business Plan Template

Download Printable Small Business Plan Template  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

This print-friendly small business plan template is ideal for presentations to investors and stakeholders. The customizable template includes all the standard, critical business plan elements, and serves as a guide for writing a complete and comprehensive plan. Easily edit and add content to this printable template, so you can focus on executing the small business plan.

Small Business Startup Plan Template

Download Small Business Startup Plan Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs  

Use this small business startup plan template to draft your mission statement and list your keys to business success, in order to persuade investors and inform stakeholders. Customize your startup plan with fillable tables for sales revenue, gross profit margin, and cost of sales projections to secure your business's pricing structure.

Fill-in-the-Blank Small Business Plan Template

Download Fill-in-the-Blank Small Business Plan Template  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

This small business plan template simplifies the process to help you create a comprehensive, organized business plan. Simply enter original content for the executive summary, company overview, and other sections to customize the plan. This fill-in-the-blank small business plan template helps you to maintain organization and removes the guesswork in order to ensure success.

One Page Small Business Plan Template

Download One Page Small Business Plan Template  Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

This one page small business plan template is ideal for quick, simple presentations. Use this template to summarize your business overview, market analysis, marketing, and sales plan, key objectives and success metrics, and milestones timeline. Complete the fillable sections to educate investors and inform stakeholders.

One Page Small Business Plan Example

Download One Page Business Plan Example Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

This one page small business plan example prompts you to list your vision, mission, product or service, team member names, roles, and relevant experience to promote your small business. Use the market analysis, marketing, sales plan sections to detail how you aim to sell your product or service. This small business plan features fillable tables for key objectives and success metrics. Plus, you’ll find space for your financial cost structure and revenue sources to show how your business will remain profitable.

What Is a Small Business Plan Template?

A small business plan template is a roadmap for defining your business objectives and detailing the operational, financial, and marketing resources required for success. Use a small business plan template to strategize growth, forecast financial needs, and promote investment. 

A small business plan template organizes and outlines the content needed to achieve goals for growth and profit, including marketing and sales tactics. As opposed to starting from scratch, using a template makes it easy to organize the information and customize the plan to meet your needs. 

A small business plan template includes standard business plan sections, as well as the following sections: 

• Executive Summary: Summarize the key points in your small business plan in two pages or less to hold your reader's attention and promote buy-in. Write this section last to capitalize on your understanding of the small business plan.
• Company Overview: Describe the nature of your small business, the industry landscape and trends, demographics, and economic and governmental influences. List your location, product or service, and goals to show what makes your small business unique.
• Problem and Solution: Identify and explain the problem your product or service will solve and its costs. Propose and describe your solution and its benefits. Conclude this section with a summary of the problem and solution.
• Target Market: Identify your small business's target market by researching your product and service to determine the most likely demographic. Explain your target market's motivations for buying your product or service.
• Competition: Note the other competitor product or service offerings, pricing, and company revenues to understand how to outperform your competitors. Detail your small business's competitive advantages, based on research.
• Product or Service Offerings: Describe your product or service, how it benefits your target market, and what makes it unique. Highlight how your product or service will outsell competitors.
• Marketing: Detail your marketing plan with objectives and strategy, including goals, costs, and an action plan. A successful marketing plan reduces costs and boosts your product or service sales.
• Timeline and Metrics: Break down your small business plan into smaller activities. Describe these activities (and the performance metrics you intend to use to track them) and list a completion date for each.
• Financial Forecasts: Explain how your organization uses past performance and market research to inform your business's economic forecasts. Estimate growth and profits based on your informed assumptions.
• Financing: List your funding sources and how you intend to use the funds to keep your company on track as it grows. Smart financing at the planning stage prepares your organization for unexpected challenges and helps to mitigate risk.

A small business plan template enables you to complete your business plan quickly and comprehensively, so you can achieve your goals and turn your product or service idea into a profitable reality.

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Simple Business Plan Template (2024)

Updated: May 4, 2024, 4:37pm

Table of Contents

Why business plans are vital, get your free simple business plan template, how to write an effective business plan in 6 steps, frequently asked questions.

While taking many forms and serving many purposes, they all have one thing in common: business plans help you establish your goals and define the means for achieving them. Our simple business plan template covers everything you need to consider when launching a side gig, solo operation or small business. By following this step-by-step process, you might even uncover a few alternate routes to success.

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Whether you’re a first-time solopreneur or a seasoned business owner, the planning process challenges you to examine the costs and tasks involved in bringing a product or service to market. The process can also help you spot new income opportunities and hone in on the most profitable business models.

Though vital, business planning doesn’t have to be a chore. Business plans for lean startups and solopreneurs can simply outline the business concept, sales proposition, target customers and sketch out a plan of action to bring the product or service to market. However, if you’re seeking startup funding or partnership opportunities, you’ll need a write a business plan that details market research, operating costs and revenue forecasting. Whichever startup category you fall into, if you’re at square one, our simple business plan template will point you down the right path.

Copy our free simple business plan template so you can fill in the blanks as we explore each element of your business plan. Need help getting your ideas flowing? You’ll also find several startup scenario examples below.

Download free template as .docx

Whether you need a quick-launch overview or an in-depth plan for investors, any business plan should cover the six key elements outlined in our free template and explained below. The main difference in starting a small business versus an investor-funded business is the market research and operational and financial details needed to support the concept.

1. Your Mission or Vision

Start by declaring a “dream statement” for your business. You can call this your executive summary, vision statement or mission. Whatever the name, the first part of your business plan summarizes your idea by answering five questions. Keep it brief, such as an elevator pitch. You’ll expand these answers in the following sections of the simple business plan template.

• What does your business do? Are you selling products, services, information or a combination?
• Where does this happen? Will you conduct business online, in-store, via mobile means or in a specific location or environment?
• Who does your business benefit? Who is your target market and ideal customer for your concept?
• Why would potential customers care? What would make your ideal customers take notice of your business?
• How do your products and/or services outshine the competition? What would make your ideal customers choose you over a competitor?

These answers come easily if you have a solid concept for your business, but don’t worry if you get stuck. Use the rest of your plan template to brainstorm ideas and tactics. You’ll quickly find these answers and possibly new directions as you explore your ideas and options.

2. Offer and Value Proposition

This is where you detail your offer, such as selling products, providing services or both, and why anyone would care. That’s the value proposition. Specifically, you’ll expand on your answers to the first and fourth bullets from your mission/vision.

As you complete this section, you might find that exploring value propositions uncovers marketable business opportunities that you hadn’t yet considered. So spend some time brainstorming the possibilities in this section.

For example, a cottage baker startup specializing in gluten-free or keto-friendly products might be a value proposition that certain audiences care deeply about. Plus, you could expand on that value proposition by offering wedding and other special-occasion cakes that incorporate gluten-free, keto-friendly and traditional cake elements that all guests can enjoy.

3. Audience and Ideal Customer

Here is where you explore bullet point number three, who your business will benefit. Identifying your ideal customer and exploring a broader audience for your goods or services is essential in defining your sales and marketing strategies, plus it helps fine-tune what you offer.

There are many ways to research potential audiences, but a shortcut is to simply identify a problem that people have that your product or service can solve. If you start from the position of being a problem solver, it’s easy to define your audience and describe the wants and needs of your ideal customer for marketing efforts.

Using the cottage baker startup example, a problem people might have is finding fresh-baked gluten-free or keto-friendly sweets. Examining the wants and needs of these people might reveal a target audience that is health-conscious or possibly dealing with health issues and willing to spend more for hard-to-find items.

However, it’s essential to have a customer base that can support your business. You can be too specialized. For example, our baker startup can attract a broader audience and boost revenue by offering a wider selection of traditional baked goods alongside its gluten-free and keto-focused specialties.

4. Revenue Streams, Sales Channels and Marketing

Thanks to our internet-driven economy, startups have many revenue opportunities and can connect with target audiences through various channels. Revenue streams and sales channels also serve as marketing vehicles, so you can cover all three in this section.

Revenue Streams

Revenue streams are the many ways you can make money in your business. In your plan template, list how you’ll make money upon launch, plus include ideas for future expansion. The income possibilities just might surprise you.

For example, our cottage baker startup might consider these revenue streams:

• Product sales : Online, pop-up shops , wholesale and (future) in-store sales
• Affiliate income : Monetize blog and social media posts with affiliate links
• Advertising income : Reserve website space for advertising
• E-book sales : (future) Publish recipe e-books targeting gluten-free and keto-friendly dessert niches
• Video income : (future) Monetize a YouTube channel featuring how-to videos for the gluten-free and keto-friendly dessert niches
• Webinars and online classes : (future) Monetize coaching-style webinars and online classes covering specialty baking tips and techniques
• Members-only content : (future) Monetize a members-only section of the website for specialty content to complement webinars and online classes
• Franchise : (future) Monetize a specialty cottage bakery concept and sell to franchise entrepreneurs

Sales Channels

Sales channels put your revenue streams into action. This section also answers the “where will this happen” question in the second bullet of your vision.

The product sales channels for our cottage bakery example can include:

• Mobile point-of-sale (POS) : A mobile platform such as Shopify or Square POS for managing in-person sales at local farmers’ markets, fairs and festivals
• E-commerce platform : An online store such as Shopify, Square or WooCommerce for online retail sales and wholesale sales orders
• Social media channels : Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest shoppable posts and pins for online sales via social media channels
• Brick-and-mortar location : For in-store sales , once the business has grown to a point that it can support a physical location

Channels that support other income streams might include:

• Affiliate income : Blog section on the e-commerce website and affiliate partner accounts
• Advertising income : Reserved advertising spaces on the e-commerce website
• E-book sales : Amazon e-book sales via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
• Video income : YouTube channel with ad monetization
• Webinars and online classes : Online class and webinar platforms that support member accounts, recordings and playback
• Members-only content : Password-protected website content using membership apps such as MemberPress

Nowadays, the line between marketing and sales channels is blurred. Social media outlets, e-books, websites, blogs and videos serve as both marketing tools and income opportunities. Since most are free and those with advertising options are extremely economical, these are ideal marketing outlets for lean startups.

However, many businesses still find value in traditional advertising such as local radio, television, direct mail, newspapers and magazines. You can include these advertising costs in your simple business plan template to help build a marketing plan and budget.

5. Structure, Suppliers and Operations

This section of your simple business plan template explores how to structure and operate your business. Details include the type of business organization your startup will take, roles and responsibilities, supplier logistics and day-to-day operations. Also, include any certifications or permits needed to launch your enterprise in this section.

Our cottage baker example might use a structure and startup plan such as this:

• Business structure : Sole proprietorship with a “doing business as” (DBA) .
• Permits and certifications : County-issued food handling permit and state cottage food certification for home-based food production. Option, check into certified commercial kitchen rentals.
• Roles and responsibilities : Solopreneur, all roles and responsibilities with the owner.
• Supply chain : Bulk ingredients and food packaging via Sam’s Club, Costco, Amazon Prime with annual membership costs. Uline for shipping supplies; no membership needed.
• Day-to-day operations : Source ingredients and bake three days per week to fulfill local and online orders. Reserve time for specialty sales, wholesale partner orders and market events as needed. Ship online orders on alternating days. Update website and create marketing and affiliate blog posts on non-shipping days.

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6. Financial Forecasts

Your final task is to list forecasted business startup and ongoing costs and profit projections in your simple business plan template. Thanks to free business tools such as Square and free marketing on social media, lean startups can launch with few upfront costs. In many cases, cost of goods, shipping and packaging, business permits and printing for business cards are your only out-of-pocket expenses.

Cost Forecast

Our cottage baker’s forecasted lean startup costs might include:

Gross Profit Projections

This helps you determine the retail prices and sales volume required to keep your business running and, hopefully, earn income for yourself. Use product research to spot target retail prices for your goods, then subtract your cost of goods, such as hourly rate, raw goods and supplier costs. The total amount is your gross profit per item or service.

Here are some examples of projected gross profits for our cottage baker:

Bottom Line

Putting careful thought and detail in a business plan is always beneficial, but don’t get so bogged down in planning that you never hit the start button to launch your business . Also, remember that business plans aren’t set in stone. Markets, audiences and technologies change, and so will your goals and means of achieving them. Think of your business plan as a living document and regularly revisit, expand and restructure it as market opportunities and business growth demand.

Is there a template for a business plan?

You can copy our free business plan template and fill in the blanks or customize it in Google Docs, Microsoft Word or another word processing app. This free business plan template includes the six key elements that any entrepreneur needs to consider when launching a new business.

What does a simple business plan include?

A simple business plan is a one- to two-page overview covering six key elements that any budding entrepreneur needs to consider when launching a startup. These include your vision or mission, product or service offering, target audience, revenue streams and sales channels, structure and operations, and financial forecasts.

How can I create a free business plan template?

Start with our free business plan template that covers the six essential elements of a startup. Once downloaded, you can edit this document in Google Docs or another word processing app and add new sections or subsections to your plan template to meet your specific business plan needs.

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover everything related to your concept for the business,  an analysis of the industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all financial data around the business, including current cash on hand, potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

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Writing an Effective One-Page Business Plan: What You Need to Know (+ Free Template)

By Homebase Team

If you’ve started—or are starting—a small business, you’ve probably heard the words ‘business plan’ thrown around. That’s because a business plan is an important document with important information! Even a one-page business plan can help you address key questions early in the planning process.

That’s right—we said  one page. In many cases, there’s no need for a supermassive document that takes ages to create. In this article, we walk you through what a good business plan needs—and what a business plan one-pager should contain. 

Whether you’re writing your business plan for the first time or giving your existing plan a refresh, we’ve got your back. We’ve even got a free, downloadable business plan template to help you get started. Let’s get into it!

Why do you need a business plan?

A business plan is a blueprint for your business. It outlines everything your business needs, from goals to market to the steps you need to implement.

Business plans serve two main purposes:

• To help you set your business up for success. As you put together your business plan, you’ll be forced to think strategically about all your business goals and activities . Are they realistic? Is something likely to go wrong? What haven’t you thought of? The goal is for you to walk away feeling confident in the future of your business.
• To communicate the value of your business to others. It’s rare that entrepreneurs like yourself will go it 100% alone. You’ll likely work with partners, investors, or vendors to bring your small business to life. A business plan gives your collaborators confidence in you and your business and helps them support you in the best way possible.

Taking the time to create a business plan can feel like you’re wasting all-too-precious time, but it can help keep you focused and increase efficiency down the road. It’ll also help you make better business decisions off the bat so you can grow your small business quickly and wisely. 

What are the 7 main points in a business plan?

Every business plan is unique, which is part of the reason writing one can feel a tad overwhelming. You can’t just copy and paste the plan from another business—instead, you need to assess your business’s idea within its niche.

Luckily, the skeleton of every plan is usually very similar. Whether you’re creating a plan for a neighborhood daycare or that cool new bar down the street , here are a few main points to put into any comprehensive business plan.

1. Executive summary

Your executive summary is an overview of your business plan. 

Think about this section like a TL;DR or too long, don’t read . If someone wants to understand the gist of your business plan in just a few minutes, what information would they need to know?

2. Company overview and description

In this section, you should introduce your business to the reader. By the time they finish reading this section, they should have a good idea of who you are, what you do, and what you sell—in other words, your business’s niche.

Don’t be afraid to dive into your own background and why you decided to start this business. Building a small business is personal, and your story can go a long way in giving the reader some context.

3. Market and competitive analysis

Every business needs customers. Here’s where you’ll detail who they are and the potential target market of your business, including your ideal customer.

You’ll also want to take note of potential competitors that may impact your business. These might be direct competitors, but could also be similar businesses that may compete for your customers’ time and money. For example, if you’re opening a cycling studio, you might consider any other type of fitness studio to be a competitor.

Competition isn’t a bad thing, but being aware of your competition is one way to ensure your business stands out from the crowd. 

4. Business offerings

Here’s where you’ll outline what products or services your business will offer in more detail. It doesn’t have to be a complete laundry list, but it should give readers a general idea and show a certain degree of forethought and attention to details.

For example, if you’re opening a bakery , this might be a sample of your menu. Or if you’re an HVAC repair company , you might share an overview of the services you’ll offer your customers. This section might even mention the products or services you won’t offer and why, especially if it helps clarify how your business is unique.

5. Management and operational plan

From managing employees and inventory to securing equipment and a lease, there’s a lot that happens behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. Every business plan should touch on how you’ll manage the day-to-day of your business.

This is also a great place to indicate key milestones and timelines so you know that you’re on track for a successful grand opening. 

6. Sales, marketing, and PR strategy

Now that you’ve got all the research and operational plans in place , it’s time to start attracting customers and securing those sales. Even with the best products or services in town, every business can use a little marketing boost. Feel free to get creative. From social media to paid ads, there are tons of ways you can spread the word about your budding business . 

7. Financial forecast and budget

No one loves to crunch financials, but when it comes to business, money talks. And a strong financial plan is key to the long-term success of your business.

This final section of your business plan should estimate the costs, revenue, and profits of your business in the short and long term. How do you plan to finance your business? What costs will you incur before opening day ? What are the ongoing costs?

Not only will this give your vendors and investors confidence in your business, but it helps you make sure that your business is profitable in the long run.

What is a one-page business plan?

A one-page business plan is essentially a condensed version of a full business plan.  

It covers all the core information about your business without overwhelming the reader with details. The goal is to summarize your business plan for yourself and potential stakeholders so they can understand your business at a glance.

Depending on your business needs, this concise document may even be all you need to get your business off the ground. Or it could serve as a stepping stone to a more robust plan in the future. 

Top benefits of a one-page business plan.

Bigger isn’t always better—and one-page business plans are here to prove it.

Here are some benefits and reasons why you might opt for a one-page business plan:

• To kickstart your business planning: A full business plan can be incredibly daunting. A one-page business plan gives you a place to start without feeling overwhelmed with the nitty gritty. 
• To share and distribute: Sometimes potential vendors, partners, or investors want to get more information about your business before they sign on officially. Instead of leaving them with a massive document, a one-page business plan helps you share the relevant need-to-know information easily.
• To focus on the key details: If you’re early on in the business ideation process and want to make sure you have all the important information, a one-page business plan can help you easily validate your business plan.
• To save time: In the long term, you may still expect to put together a full business plan at some point. However, if you’re in a time crunch, a one-page plan can help you get the important insights without the time commitment.
• To easily edit: In an ever-changing business environment, a one-page business plan is much easier to keep updated. 

Key details to include in a one-page business plan.

Above, we outlined the key components of any business plan. The key with a one-pager is to keep it brief without losing any of those important details. 

Let’s look at the sections of a business plan one-pager and dig into how you can adapt them to cover all the details of your business—all on one page. 

Summary and overview

Start your one-page plan by sharing the name of your business, what you do, and your main value proposition.

The problem—and your solution

In a few sentences, share the problem that your business solves and how you solve it. This clarifies why your business should exist, so it’s an important section!

Depending on your business, you may also want to share a few of your team members to help readers put a face to your business. Great examples include the executive chef for a restaurant, or the lead veterinarian for your vet clinic.

Target market

Briefly describe who you expect to be a customer and their characteristics. This could be in the form of a short “ideal customer” profile.

Competitor overview

Here, you’ll touch on potential competitors and what makes your business stand out.

Business timeline

Share the key milestones for your business. For example, pitch when you’ll start marketing your business, when you’ll hire employees , and when you expect to open.

Sales and marketing plan

Here, you’ll quickly highlight the key marketing activities that you’ll use to drive new customers to your business. Try to stick to the most interesting or high-value stuff, like a website or social media .

Financial projections

Outline your expected revenue , expenses, and profits to give the reader an idea of your financial future.

Our tips for creating a one-page business plan.

If you’ve ever written something with a limited word count, you know that sometimes keeping things concise can be easier said than done.

As you get writing your one-page business plan, here are some of our top tips so you can make the most of that one page.

• Focus on the need-to-know information.
• Avoid fluff and keep your sentences short.
• Link out to additional resources and material if more information is necessary.
• Don’t be afraid to strategically incorporate visuals to emphasize the important points.
• Feel free to up sections or have different versions of your one-page business plan based on who’s reading it. 
• Get creative with formatting to keep information organized.

One-page business plan example.

If you’re skeptical that all that information can fit on one page—we have proof!  Here’s an example that you can use to start thinking about your business plan.

Download our free one-page business plan template.

A one-page business plan is one of the most important pages you’ll write for your business. While there’s a lot to think about, it’s worth the effort to give both you and your partners peace of mind.

The good news is that we’ve done the heavy lifting for you! If the above one-pager looks good to you, we’ve pulled it together as a download for you. All that’s left for you to customize it for your unique business, fill in the sections, and get ready to launch your business.

Download your one-page business plan template PDF

Get your team in sync with our easy-to-use, all-in-one employee app.

One-page business plan FAQs

Why should you create a business plan.

There are several reasons you should create a business plan, such as:

• Improving your decision-making as you start and grow your business.
• Setting realistic goals and timelines.
• Attracting top-notch suppliers, investors, and even employees.
• Keeping your business profitable and your financials in order.

What types of companies need a business plan?

From brand-new small businesses to established corporations, companies of all shapes and sizes need a business plan. It’s a key part of setting your business up for success and improving your business trajectory.

Even if you already have a business plan in place, revisiting it from time to time can help you stay on track with your goals and adapt as your business changes.

Can a business plan be one page?

Yes, in many cases a business page can be one page. The trick to creating an effective one-page business plan is making sure that you’re covering the most important pieces of information. 

Our top tips? Keep it as concise and organized as possible, so you can effectively communicate the value of your business to your audience.

Writing a one-page business plan is simple. You can create a business plan from scratch or use a free template like the one above to stay on track, but generally, the steps to writing a one-page business plan include:

• Start with a short executive summary and value proposition to introduce your business.
• Share the problem your business solves and your solution.
• Give an outline of top competitors and how your business compares.
• Create a timeline of key milestones.
• Outline your sales and marketing plan for attracting customers.
• Summarize your financial projections and funding plans.

Remember:  This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.

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12 Best Pricing Page Examples To Inspire Your Own Design

Published: April 03, 2024

Your pricing page is a prime opportunity to take control of the price conversation and make it even easier for people to buy.

Searching for a product’s price is a natural part of a customer's buying decision. The majority of people who have made it down the funnel far enough to consider buying from you will likely look at your pricing page.

What does a great pricing page look like? To inspire you, we break down the must-haves of a good pricing page and share the best examples of pricing page design. Check them out below.

What makes a great pricing page?

If your pricing page isn't well-designed and user-friendly, you risk losing people before they click the “Buy Now” button. You'll notice the best pricing pages have clean layouts, use simple language that speaks to the customer, and aim to inspire trust between the business and the user.

Let’s take a look at the must-have features of a high-performing pricing page.

User-Friendly Layout

The best pricing pages are easy for users to navigate. This doesn’t mean you need to design your pricing page in the same way you would a landing page , which are often pared down for the purpose of getting a form submission.

You can still include plenty of information in your pricing page, but the fonts, colors, links, and buttons must be easy to follow with the eye. Even if you have multiple products and packages — like HubSpot does — it should be clear where users have to click to see the pricing for their desired product.

Remember to keep important information above the fold , such as a value proposition and at least one call-to-action button.

Hot tip: Interested in learning more about marketing terms such as "above the fold" and "call-to-action"? Check out our podcast below, and make sure to follow for more useful content. 

Simple Language

The pricing page can be a good place to get fancy with jargon, especially if your target customer is an advanced professional in their field. But for at least one package, consider keeping the information accessible and jargon-free — so that someone who’s not an expert in the field can tell which package would work best for their team.

You can toy with this rule depending on the package, too. For instance, on HubSpot’s pricing page, the starter package for Marketing Hub uses extremely simple language. “Forms,” “email marketing,” and “live chat” are easy to understand. Non-marketers will immediately know what they would get out of a starter subscription.

For the professional package, however, the story is different. “ABM tools and automation,” “A/B testing,” and “Omni-channel marketing automation” are highly specialized terms that only the most experienced marketers will understand.

Your language will differentiate your packages and make it clear to a user which one they should choose.

Crystal Clear Pricing

The best pricing pages have clear packages that accommodate a wide variety of company sizes and budgets. Or, if you serve primarily enterprise firms, you’ll make it clear through your language that you only serve that segment. Instead of including pricing, for instance, you might instead include a “Talk to sales” button so that enterprise buyers can get a quote.

Consider including both monthly and yearly subscription terms, especially if you sell a SaaS product . If you’d like to acquire customers abroad, give users the ability to see pricing in their local currency, too. These small changes will ensure that there are no barriers to conversion. Remember to A/B test your pricing to find out what works best for your customers.

Ready to look at some of the best pricing pages online? We’ve curated the best ones below.

Pricing Page Examples

The HubSpot CRM platform is comprised of five products: Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, Content Hub, and Operations Hub. The pricing page, however, keeps it simple by offering each one individually, giving users a chance to choose the one that most applies to their needs. If users are interested in a bundle, they can toggle the tab at the top to get bundle pricing.

Note the differences in call-to-action buttons, too. Everyone can get immediately started with a Starter subscription through the self-service “Buy now” button. But if you’re interested in a more advanced suite, the page prompts users to “Talk to sales” instead.

This is an excellent example to copy if you sell multiple products within one suite, and especially if you serve a wide range of customers, starting from freelancers all the way to enterprise companies. The calls-to-action should be different for each one.

Box's pricing page is informative, intuitive, and actionable — starting with the heading right at the top of the page, which prompts users to “choose the best plan” for their business. One thing they did really well was allowing users to choose their buyer persona by offering two call-to-action buttons at the top: "Individuals and Teams" and "Business Plans." This makes the user experience far simpler. After all, if you're thinking about buying Box for your business, there's really no reason you'd need to see the personal pricing plans (and vice versa).

Another thing they do well is highlight the most cost-effective option on the page — not only by labeling it "Most Popular," but also by designing that option to pop out. That's a great way to generate more click-throughs on that package.

The first thing you see when you arrive at Zendesk's pricing page is the header text: "Everything you need for best in class service.” Pricing pages can sometimes make users a little uncomfortable, and it's reassuring copy like this that builds trust between a business and its prospects.

We love that the pricing page is divided among several sections: “Plans for everyone," "Plans for enterprises," and "Frequently asked questions, answered." Providing a lot of information like this on your pricing page is really helpful for your users, but it can be hard to do it in a way that doesn't confuse people or create clutter on the webpage. Dividing the information into clearly marked tabs and sections is a great way to make the information manageable for your users.

Finally, if you scroll down a little on Zendesk's pricing page, you can find a prompt to see the plans compared. We love how they show the full list of features and what you get with each plan — all without the user navigating away from the page. This sort of transparency help your salespeople sell the right product to the right customers, which ultimately helps satisfy customers long-term and reduce churn.

4. Detectify

Detectify's pricing page design is a little out of the ordinary, but it makes for a really cool user experience. Users can choose between two simple options, depending on their use case. Users can either buy a security subscription for websites they’re hosting, or for applications they’re building. This works really well for a single product with a price that only changes depending on what you’re using it for.

Plus, we're suckers for simple calls-to-action. Both of the buttons prompt the user to start a free trial, making it simple for visitors to understand what they need to do.

Like any page on your website, design is just as important as the information you provide. Wistia has one of the most visually pleasing pricing pages we've seen thanks to a nice, clean, and colorful layout, and whimsical lines that align with their playful brand.

They also use language that makes it easy for visitors to find a pricing plan that suits their needs. Under each option, they provide a short description of the ideal customer for that option. For example, the Pro version is "For businesses investing in marketing with videos and podcasts.”

Finally, we love that the amount of videos you can create is included in the feature comparison. Why? Because it clearly states the value of each subscription; there’s no guessing. Wistia successfully speaks their customers' language.

Thanks to minimal copy and great use of negative space (i.e. the blank space surrounding objects in design), this page is both well-designed and easy to follow. But what we really love on this page is their well-worded refund policy: "After you buy your mattress online, we’ll ship it for free. If you’re not in love, we have a 100-night trial. We’ll pick it up and give you a full refund after the 30-Night Adjustment Period. "

The fact that the company will go to a dissatisfied customer's house and pick up the mattress for no charge, along with giving a full refund, is a great testimonial to their dedication to customer service. This serves as a way to build trust with prospects before they even buy, and is sure to help create advocates down the road.

If you have a refund policy, be sure to include it on the pricing page to reassure users who may be on the fence about buying.

7. Squarespace

Like Zendesk, Squarespace employs strong header copy: "Set up your site, pick a plan later." Right away, they're reassuring users that they don’t have to pay just to try it out; visitors can immediately try the platform by clicking the “Get Started” button.

We also love that they include frequently asked questions right on the same page as the pricing matrix. That way, users can get many of their questions answered without having to dig for answers.

8. Ticketleap

Here's another take on header copy from Ticketleap that captures users' attention right away. When you arrive at their pricing page, the first thing you see are the words "Simple, Straightforward Pricing." This phrasing aims to make users feel like Tickleap is on their side — they won’t get secretly up-charged once they sign up on the platform.

Later down the page, users can calculate how much they would pay for Ticketleap and get the simple pricing they were promised at the top of the page.

Slack's pricing page is another example of great page design. The pricing options are within a simple, easy-to-scan table that is pleasing to the eye, and their feature comparison is easy to skim. Notice that their Enterprise Grid subscription prompts users to “Contact Sales.” This is a great way to prompt high-caliber customers to get an account manager and work out a custom solution.

Finally, although the header copy is simple, it effortlessly conveys Slack’s value proposition. The app will help your company “make teamwork more productive” — and more productive teams result in an increased ROI.

10. BombBomb

The folks at BombBomb took a different approach than most. The very first thing you see when you land on their pricing page is a large header saying "Find the video messaging plan that’s right for you," along with a simple three-column chart on the packages that are available. Only when you scroll down do you see the individual features for each subscription.

This is a great example of a business designing its pricing page based on specific goals. If your goal is to keep it simple while increasing sign-ups, this is one way to help your cause. Take note of the reassuring subheader copy, too: “Join the 50,000+ business professionals who use BombBomb video messages to rehumanize their communication.” From that, you know that others have benefited from using this product, too.

11. Pagevamp

Trust elements are great additions to any pricing page. Pagevamp took the cue and placed their trial policy right at the beginning of the page, which says that "Every plan starts off with a 14-day free trial." Copy like this might prime a user to look at the price packages and think to themselves, Hey, if I don’t like the product, I don’t have to commit .

While no one wants their customers to churn, you increase the value of your product by providing a free trial. If you force customers to sign a yearly contract without a trial, you’re essentially saying, “I know you’ll want out, so I’m locking you in for a year.” That’s a poor policy that might generate short-term revenue but create unhappy customers and poor word-of-mouth down the line.

The simpler your business' pricing page, the better user experience you'll offer — but this gets harder the more complex your product and pricing model. Acquia is one such company, but they do a great job in this example. When you land on the page, you don’t see the product’s pricing. Instead, you get information on choosing the right self-service option for you.

You also have the option to contact Acquia directly and get an agent to help you pick the right product. This is important if you offer a complex product that might stump professionals who don’t specialize in your field.

As you scroll down, you can then see pricing depending on the region where you’re located. For each one, you get two options: a “Personal” self-service option or “Small” self-service option. Enterprise businesses also have the ability to get in contact with the sales team. This makes it easy to select a package depending on your background and buyer persona; again, there’s no need to guess.

The Right Pricing Page Design Will Boost Conversions

Take your time building your pricing page — it’s one of the most important factors in a customer’s buying decision. Test it repeatedly, change elements and colors, and keep the design user-friendly and clean. In no time, your company will see more leads come in through the pricing page, increasing conversions and boosting your revenue.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Five Things Companies Can Do Now That Chevron Deference Is Dead

The US Supreme Court issued its decision June 28 overruling the 40-year old Chevron deference, which required courts to defer to agency’s reasonable interpretations of ambiguous or silent statutes. So what is a regulated party to do now?

Number 1: Don’t panic. Just because a rule was previously upheld under Chevron doesn’t automatically mean it will be overturned.

Not every Administrative Procedure Act case was a Chevron case— Chevron only applied when an agency interpreted an ambiguous or silent statute, and even then, only in a comparatively formal manner. Chevron never applied where Congress expressly delegated an issue to an agency; where an agency’s interpretation came in informal, non-binding guidance; or where the agency was interpreting its own regulation.

Nor are the 70 Supreme Court cases or thousands of circuit court decisions holding “that specific agency actions are lawful” necessarily at risk of being overturned on a fresh post- Chevron look. The Supreme Court took pains to emphasize that those decisions “are still subject to statutory stare decisis despite [its] change in interpretive methodology.”

It’s not entirely clear what that means in practice. But even assuming that pre- Chevron decisions are back on the table, the only cases that would present a real risk of flipping are those where: the statute was silent or ambiguous at step one; the agency’s interpretation was reasonable at step two; and the agency’s interpretation of the statute was reasonable, but not the best. Not every decision would be safe, but neither would every decision be in mortal peril.

Number 2: Do consider whether existing rules are worth challenging.

That said, it’s not entirely clear what this guarantee of “statutory stare decisis ” actually means. At its narrowest, it simply means that parties can’t seek to reopen a particular case decided under Chevron just because it was decided under Chevron .

But what if the same statutory-interpretation question arises in a new context? What if the agency changes position on an interpretation previously blessed under Chevron ? We expect we’ll see lots of discussion about this in the weeks and months to come as litigants and courts struggle to make sense of this language.

While we work to sort that out, however, now is a great time to reassess whether to challenge existing rules or prior statutory interpretations. Most Chevron cases were decided at step two—studies put the numbers around 50% to 70% —meaning that if there’s a particular decision you dislike, odds are that it’s worth considering whether to revisit it.

And the Supreme Court’s decision in Corner Post —which will issue July 1—could also make that substantially easier than it was before. Previously, the APA’s general six-year statute of limitations might have posed a hurdle for many older rules, but the Supreme Court is considering in Corner Post whether to authorize a workaround to that general rule.

If a potential Corner Post exception doesn’t apply, you can also petition the agency to reconsider or reopen an older rulemaking. You can also disobey the rule and challenge its substance as a defense to an enforcement proceeding, but that approach carries with it additional risks.

Number 3: Don’t expect the agency to defend its prior approach.

One feature of Chevron was that agencies could select among a range of “reasonable” interpretations, meaning that statutory interpretations changed with the administrations. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, “ Chevron foster[ed] unwarranted instability in the law, leaving those attempting to plan around agency action in an eternal fog of uncertainty.”

Now, there is only one best interpretation, and the court will decide what that is. If the agency leadership disagrees with the prior administration’s policy approach, don’t necessarily expect the agency to argue that the prior interpretation is the “best” one if challenged in court.

That means that litigation monitoring is even more crucial now. If a rule affecting your organization is challenged in court, think carefully about whether to intervene in support of the agency’s interpretation. Sitting on your hands now could prove problematic later if the agency switches course.

Number 4: Do reassess your approach to comment letters, focusing on the best interpretation of the statute.

Comment letters can no longer rely on policy arguments to drive statutory interpretation. Agencies will now need to assess the best interpretation and adopt that approach or adopt the one that best serves their policy goals from the range of possible court outcomes.

That means agencies—and, in turn, commenters—must pay closer attention to things like dictionary definitions, plain meaning, canons of interpretation, statutory structure, and (in some courts) legislative intent. Comment letters that raise these kinds of arguments will be more useful to agencies and more advantageous in future litigation.

Number 5: Do think creatively about your approach to administrative procedure litigation—including the long game.

Think critically and creatively about other frontiers in administrative litigation. For example, the major questions doctrine and non-delegation doctrine could warrant more space in briefs now that Chevron is gone. Under the major questions doctrine , agencies can only regulate issues of “vast economic and political significance” if Congress clearly and explicitly delegated that power. And four justices have already signaled their support for a stronger version of the non-delegation doctrine, which governs when Congress can delegate power to the other branches.

Litigants should look for ways to further push the already “fuzzy” line between legislative rules (which are subject to notice-and-comment) and interpretive rules (which are not). Chevron incentivized agencies to use notice-and-comment procedures because only notice-and-comment rules were generally eligible for deference.

Without deference, agencies will likely look more to less-formal processes with increasing frequency. Consider arguing that the agency’s supposed “interpretive” rule is actually legislative and impermissibly skipped the notice-and-comment process.

Finally, lawyers should think carefully about where to file suit, and be prepared for the possibility of circuit splits and the need for Supreme Court review. Although the US District Court for the District of D.C. is often still the best bet for district-court APA litigation, it’s worth looking beyond the capital for circuits that may be receptive to your arguments.

And with more cases being filed in more circuits challenging the same rules, the long game—setting up and pursuing splits to the Supreme Court, if necessary—will become more important than ever.

The cases are Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , No. 22-451, and Relentless v. Department of Commerce, No. 22-1219, decided 6/28/24.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Sean Marotta is partner at Hogan Lovells and has argued at the Supreme Court and in state and federal courts across the country.

Danielle Desaulniers Stempel is a senior associate in Hogan Lovells’ Supreme Court and Appellate practice group, where she regularly litigates administrative-procedure cases.

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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jessie Kokrda Kamens at [email protected] ; Alison Lake at [email protected]

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Project Plan Examples: How to Write an Effective Plan (2024)

Key takeaways What is a project plan? A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it…

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Key takeaways

• A project plan is a vital document in project management that outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule.
• Effective project planning enhances resource management, mitigates risks, and improves project implementation and success.
• Project plans can vary in format, such as Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Gantt charts, and mind maps for brainstorming.

Jan. 8, 2024: Irene Casucian reviewed the information on this page for accuracy, refined the page layout, and added elements to improve the visual flow of information. She also created a downloadable project plan template.

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What is a project plan.

A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it contributes to the overall goal.

A project plan is the tangible output of the second phase of project management , project planning . This phase involves identifying and arranging each task necessary to cover the project’s scope, achieve deliverables, and meet the project’s goals. A comprehensive project plan developed in this phase is instrumental in tracking dependencies, staying updated on the status, and maintaining productivity throughout the project.

What are the key elements of an effective project plan?

A well-prepared project plan requires several key elements that will outline the project’s goals and define the stakeholders ‘ individual roles. Incorporating these key elements into a project plan is essential for effective project management and a higher success rate.

How do you create a project plan?

Step 1: define the project’s overall goals and objectives.

Identifying your project’s overall objectives and goals will help you measure the project’s success and keep your team aligned with the overarching mission. In this step, you should determine the desired outcome of your project that would represent its success.

By clearly understanding what the project aims to accomplish, project managers and teams can better identify the necessary tasks and establish the project scope . 

When defining your project goals, apply the SMART standards for a solid foundation. Make your objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This approach guarantees a clear, focused, and actionable framework for your project.

Step 2: Establish the project’s success criteria

To measure success effectively, align your success criteria with the project’s key deliverables and outcomes, and make sure they are based on its intended result. Confirm that these criteria are quantifiable and accurately reflect the impact and value your project aims to deliver. Such alignment is essential for accurately assessing the project’s performance and its effectiveness in achieving the intended results.

Step 3: Identify project milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables

To identify project milestones, break the project down into key tasks and outcomes and specify significant progress points or phase completions as milestones. Consider dependencies when establishing a realistic workflow. Additionally, identify potential risks that can impact task completion and define deliverables clearly as measurable results expected from each project phase.

Step 4: Assign roles and responsibilities to the team and stakeholders

Your project’s stakeholders include any individuals or groups related to the project. To assess if someone is a stakeholder in a project, determine how much they influence, impact, or have an interest in the project’s outcome. Consider if their involvement is direct, if the project’s results affect them, or if they can influence the project’s direction or success.

Examples of stakeholder groups include:

• Team members.
• Departments.
• Project sponsors.
• Contractors.

Once you have determined your stakeholders, you can define their roles and responsibilities. This can help you structure your project team, identify members who are directly responsible for its success, and make sure they are assigned the correct tasks to carry out the project appropriately.

When assigning roles and responsibilities, utilize a RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to clarify the involvement of each stakeholder in the project. This provides clear communication and accountability and prevents overlaps or gaps in responsibilities.

Step 5: Create a schedule and set a timeline

Creating a schedule and timeline for each task can provide visibility into the execution process and keep each team member productive.

Consider how much time is required to complete each task necessary for your project milestones. You can even break down tasks into smaller subtasks to make them more manageable. However, be mindful of factors that can cause delays such as:

• Resource limitations.
• Task dependencies.
• Unforeseen risks.

When creating a project schedule, visual tools like Gantt charts and Kanban boards help you map out task dependencies and timelines. A useful project management tool you can use for this step is Trello. Trello offers an intuitive platform for creating Kanban boards. It allows easy visualization and management of tasks through customizable columns and cards for streamlined project workflow.

Step 6: Establish an estimated project budget

To generate an estimated project budget, you must consider all of the necessary project resources, including personnel, labor, materials, and equipment. Establishing a project budget will help you make wise spending decisions throughout the project execution phase to avoid overspending. 

Step 7: Plan for communication and collaboration

A communication plan should show how information is shared among stakeholders. For instance, in a software development project, the communication plan might specify that the development team shares a beta version of the software with the client for feedback every two weeks. It’s a systematic approach to making sure that the client receives consistent updates about the project’s progress. Having a communication plan in place will also outline the channels of communication and frequency to all necessary parties. 

Leverage collaboration tools , such as Slack , that integrate with your project management software to receive real-time updates and interactions among team members and stakeholders. 

Step 8: Document the project plan

Compile all related planning information and documentation as you plan your project. Some of these vital documents include: 

• Stakeholder analysis.
• Feasibility study .
• Business case.
• Work breakdown structure .

Having these reports in one place will serve as a reference during the project’s execution.

Utilize a centralized digital platform, like Sharepoint , where stakeholders can store, update, and access all project documentation. This approach serves as a reliable reference and streamlines the management and tracking of the project’s progress.

Learn more about Sharepoint and other document management tools in our video overview:

Free project plan template download

Project plan examples.

Using an appropriate project plan format is essential to keeping stakeholders well-informed. Here are some of the widely-used project plan formats: 

1.  Spreadsheets

Using spreadsheets for project planning is beneficial due to its simplicity and widespread use, especially suitable for small-scale projects with straightforward tasks. Its customizable nature is excellent for simple initiatives like office events or basic marketing plans.

However, a significant drawback of using spreadsheets in project planning is the limited visualization options. While spreadsheets can manage data, they fail to offer comprehensive visual representations essential for a holistic view of project progress. Lastly, the risk of human error in data entry and formula setup in spreadsheets is high and can lead to critical miscalculations affecting the entire project plan.

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For more complex projects, Smartsheet is an ideal upgrade. It merges the simplicity of a spreadsheet with advanced project management features such as real-time collaboration, automated workflows , and app integration. More than just a basic spreadsheet tool, Smartsheet is particularly effective for large-scale projects like detailed marketing campaigns or cross-departmental efforts, offering comprehensive task tracking and resource management in a user-friendly format.

2. Slideshow presentations

Slideshow presentations for project plans provide a visually engaging method to simplify complex information. They effectively break down project components into understandable segments, using visuals, charts, and bullet points to highlight key information and timelines for team members and stakeholders.

However, the downside is that slide shows can oversimplify complex projects and potentially leave out critical nuances. They also require significant preparation time and may not be the best medium for detailed, data-heavy projects.

Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent choice for creating slide show presentations as part of project plans. It’s user-friendly and offers many templates and design tools. That’s why it’s suitable for beginners and seasoned professionals. PowerPoint’s ability to integrate with other Microsoft Office tools, like Excel for data representation, enhances its utility in project planning.

3. Gantt charts

Gantt charts create a clear visual timeline of a project’s schedule and progress by displaying various project elements’ start and finish dates. This approach helps identify potential bottlenecks and overlaps and facilitates better resource allocation and time management. However, Gantt charts can become cumbersome for complex projects with numerous tasks and dependencies.

Gantt charts are particularly effective in construction projects, event planning, and software development, where timelines and task dependencies are critical.

TeamGantt is an effective PM tool that creates clear visual timelines for project schedules and progress tracking. By allowing users to input various project elements, including tasks, milestones, and dependencies, and then assigning start and finish dates to each, TeamGantt generates an intuitive Gantt chart.

This chart visually represents the project timeline, displaying how different tasks and phases overlap and interconnect over the project duration. The color-coded bars and easy-to-read format make it simple to understand the sequencing of tasks and the project’s overall progress at a glance.

4.     Mind maps

Mind maps differ from other project visualization methods by showing a radial, non-linear format ideal for brainstorming and capturing the holistic view of a project. They emphasize the creative mapping of ideas and relationships. They promote the free flow of ideas and easy visualization of relationships between different aspects of a project. Mind maps can also help identify key components, dependencies, and potential challenges at the early stages of a project.

Moreover, using a mind map before presenting a Gantt chart can help ease the transition from creative brainstorming to detailed scheduling, resource allocation, and progress tracking.

Lucidchart is an excellent software solution for creating mind maps that can be converted into detailed reports. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop interface is ideal for conceptualizing project plans.

Lucidchart also stands out because it integrates with various tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. This integration can facilitate the transition from a visual mind map to a comprehensive written report.

Components of project planning

Work breakdown schedule development.

Using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project planning offers distinct advantages and some drawbacks. The primary benefit of a WBS is its ability to break down a complex project into manageable components. It is then easier to allocate resources, assign responsibilities, and track progress. This hierarchical project decomposition guarantees that every part of the project is apparent.

However, the main disadvantage lies in its potential rigidity; a WBS can become overly prescriptive, limiting flexibility and adaptability to changes or unforeseen challenges. Additionally, creating a comprehensive WBS can be time-consuming, and if not done meticulously, it may lead to gaps or overlaps in project planning.

monday.com includes a work breakdown feature to help teams organize complex projects into manageable tasks. Each task is separated into more minor subtasks assigned to the appropriate individuals. The chart also displays additional information, such as the deliverables, end dates, and schedules based on interdependencies.

Project and documentation management 

Project and documentation management in project planning has its own advantages and disadvantages. With this process, you can make sure that all project-related documents are organized, up-to-date, and easily accessible. This approach is essential for maintaining consistency and clarity throughout the project lifecycle. Yet, the downside includes the possibility of information overload, where team members might get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documents.

Agile teams use Jira for planning and managing their projects. Here, you can see some of the information regarding risks and dependencies compiled within Jira. This method of organizing this information can be helpful, as the platform can act as a single source of truth to keep team members updated on the status of specific tasks. It also makes it easy for teams to communicate with external stakeholders about factors impacting the project.

Benefits of creating a project plan

Effective project planning is the cornerstone of successful project execution. It involves several key aspects contributing to a project’s smooth functioning and success. Some of these benefits include:

Remember, an effective project plan is not just a document; it’s a strategic tool that integrates various critical elements to secure the project’s success.

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• Best Online Advisor for Low Fees 
• Best Online Advisor for Diversified Investing
• Best Online Advisor for 529 Plans
• Best Online Advisor for Financial Planning and Personal Development
• Best Online Advisor for Retirement Saving
• Why You Should Trust Us

Best Online Financial Advisors 2024: Find the Right Fit for Your Needs

Paid non-client promotion: Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate investing products to write unbiased product reviews.

What Are Online Financial Advisors?

A financial advisor is a catch-all term that includes financial planners and investment advisors. Most online advisors offer investment management — whether it's carried out by a human or a sophisticated computer algorithm — and financial planning services or tools.

Types of Online Advisors

The main types of online financial advisors are: 

• Robo-Advisors: Automated investment platforms (aka robo-advisors) use algorithms to generate a custom investment portfolio based on an individual's risk tolerance, goals, and time horizon. Robo-advisors typically offer low-cost ETFs as a cost-effective way to instantly diversify an investor's asset allocation and mitigate risk. 
• Human Advisors (Virtual): Financial advisors that offer personalized financial planning and investment advice online through virtual meetings, email, and other virtual communication channels. 
• Hybrid Models: Some online brokerages offer hybrid financial advice, combining automated investment advice and management through a robo-advisor and one-on-one consultation from a human advisor. 

Benefits of Using Online Financial Advisors

Online financial advisors allow you to ditch the in-person hassle and access expert financial guidance from your phone or home computer. Online financial advisors leverage investment technology and generally low-cost compared to traditional in-person consultants.  

Not only does it make investing more affordable for many individuals, but clients can more easily adjust and monitor their investments on their own time. Robo-advisor and hybrid online advisors typically offer online dashboards and tools for convenient managing and monitoring. 

Compare the Top Online Financial Advisors 2024

For this list, we didn't consider online advisors that match clients and advisors for comprehensive financial  planning services, such as Zoe Financial or Facet Wealth . Instead, we focused on tech-driven firms where you can access an automated and personalized portfolio and consult a professional for advice when needed.

Here are our top picks for the best online financial advisors as picked by Business Insider editors in 2024.

SoFi Automated: Best Online Advisor for Low Fees 

SoFi Automated Investing supports individual investment accounts, joint accounts, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, and 401(k) rollovers.

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No account minimum or management fees to invest
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Goal planning and automatic portfolio rebalancing
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Range of other account options across SoFi website
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. SoFi offers complimentary CFP access across all accounts
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No tax-loss harvesting
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No socially responsible portfolio options

SoFi Invest is one of the best investment apps and the best investment apps for beginners. It's a great platform for US investors who are looking for an intuitive online trading experience, an open active or automated investing account, and assets like cryptocurrencies.

• Promotion: None at this time.
• Consider it if: You're new to investing and want to leave the trading decisions to professionals.

SoFi Automated Investing offers individual and joint taxable brokerage accounts , traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and SEP IRA.

SoFi stands out for its lack of advisory fees, free one-on-one consultations with CFPs, portfolio diversity, and goal-planning features. SoFi builds a personalized investment portfolio based on your risk tolerance, goals, and time horizon. Additional SoFi membership perks include loan discounts and career counseling. 

What to look out for: SoFi doesn't have tax-loss harvesting features and limited portfolio diversity. 

SoFi Invest review

Betterment: Best Online Advisor for Diversified Investing

Betterment offers individual or joint accounts, IRAs, trust accounts, and cash reserve or checking accounts.

$0 to open, $10 to start investing ($100,000 for premium plan)

$4 per month (or 0.25%/year) for digital plan; 0.40%/ year for premium plan; 1%/year for crypto portfolios

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No minimum for standard investing account
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Goal-based planning, tax-loss harvesting, charitable giving, and socially responsible investing available
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Access to certified financial planners
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Mobile app with external account syncing options
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. You'll have to pay to consult a human advisor, unless you have the premium plan
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. $4 monthly fee (or 0.25% annual fee)

Betterment is best for hands-off investors who want to take advantage of professionally built, personalized ETF and cryptocurrency portfolios. The platform offers CFP access, so it could suit those in search of additional guidance from human advisors.

• App store rating: 4.7 iOS/4.5 Android
• Consider it if: You want access to robo-advice with multiple service levels.

Betterment Investing offers individual and joint taxable brokerage, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, inherited IRA, and trust.

What stands out:  Betterment is a robust trading platform offering premium plans with unlimited access to CFPs through phone or email. Investors can use the platform's goal-setting feature, ESG investing, automatic rebalancing, and easy-to-use financial dashboard. 

What to look out for:  Accounts with a $100,000 balance can upgrade to get advisor access, but the annual fee increases from 0.25% (an industry low) to 0.40%

Betterment review

Wealthfront: Best Online Advisor for 529 Plans

Fund your first taxable investment account with at least $500 in the first 30 days of account opening and earn a $50 bonus.

$1 ($500 for automated investing)

$0 for stock trades. 0.25% for automated investing (0.06% to 0.13% for fund fees)

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Low annual fee for investment accounts; crypto trust investments available
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Tax-loss harvesting, portfolio lines of credit, 529 college savings plans available
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Cash account
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Mobile app and investing and retirement tools
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. You need at least $100,000 to utilize additional investment strategies
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No human advisor access

Wealthfront is one of the best robo-advisor options if you're in search of low-cost automated portfolio management, and one of the best socially responsible investing apps for features like tax-loss harvesting, US direct indexing, and crypto trusts.

• Consider it if: You're balancing several goals and want to streamline your finances.
• Promotion: Fund your first taxable investment account with at least $500 in the first 30 days of account opening and earn a $50 bonus.

Wealthfront Investing offers individual and joint taxable brokerage, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, trust, and 529 savings plan .

Wealthfront is one of the best online financial advisors for college education savings and cryptocurrency trusts. You can borrow up to 30% of your investment balance at a low interest rate with a portfolio line of credit. Wealthfront also offers personalized recommendations with smart financial planning software. 

What to look out for:  On-staff financial advisors don't offer personalized advice

Wealthfront review

Ellevest: Best Online Advisor for Financial Planning and Personal Development

Ellevest offers two investing portfolios to fit your needs.

$1 - $240 (varies by portfolio)

$54 - $97 annually; $5 or $9/month

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Personalized, automated investment advice with a $0 minimum requirement
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Monthly plans include discounted access to certified financial planners
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Automated IRA accounts and 401(k)/403(b) rollovers available
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Private wealth management for individuals, families, and institutions who have at least $1 million to invest
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No active trading opportunities available; money is mainly invested in stock ETFs and bond ETFs
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. You can only open individual investment accounts and retirement accounts; joint accounts or custodial accounts not available

Ellevest is one of the best robo-advisors for goal-focused investing. It could be a good fit if you want automated investing and retirement accounts.

• Consider it if: You're looking for a one-stop shop for financial planning.

Ellevest offers individual taxable brokerage, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and SEP IRA (all held at Folio Investments).

Ellevest is a comprehensive financial advisor and trading platform built around women's unique needs and challenges. Investors get access to an extensive library of content and advisor-led workshops. Additionally, Ellevest offers a socially responsible investment portfolio and monthly progress reports. 

What to look out for:  Financial coaching costs extra (but members get 30%- 50% off). Access to retirement account management requires an upgrade.

Ellevest review

Ameriprise Financial Investments: Best Online Advisor for Retirement Saving

Ameriprise Financial Services has been operating for 130 years Ameriprise Financial Services is licensed in all 50 states but only has 10 physical locations throughout the US; it's currently headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Varies by account

$500 annual advisory fee, 2% AUM

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Access to personal finance research and investment tools
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Fiduciary financial advisor access
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Various account and investment options
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. High account minimums
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Difficult to navigate website
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Complex fee structure

Ameriprise Financial Services is a brokerage and financial advisory firm best for experienced, passive investors interested in using the site's financial planning services, wealth management tools, and fiduciary advisor access.

Ameriprise Financial Investments offers three managed account options that can be opened as an individual brokerage account, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Simple IRAs, SEP IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 529 plans, and Coverdell education savings accounts (CESA). 

Ameriprise Financial Investments is one of the largest registered investment advisors in the US and is best for experienced investors looking for advanced charting and investing features. You'll get access to fiduciary financial advisors for consultations or account management. 

What to look out for: Ameriprise 's managed account fees are high, and it has a complex fee structure. 

Ameriprise Financial Services review

How Much Do Online Financial Advisors Cost?

Financial advisors providing financial advice often charge by the hour, typically between $100 to $300. Advisors creating a comprehensive financial plan tend to charge a flat rate between $1,000 and $3,000. 

If you hire an advisor to manage your investment portfolio, you'll be charged a percentage of your account balance, typically between 1% and 3% annually. In comparison, that's much higher than the fees that the best robo-advisors charge; you get the added benefit of building a relationship with a trusted source who can adjust your strategy as needed, provide personal recommendations, and answer questions when they arise.

How to Choose the Best Online Financial Advisors

The best online financial advisor for you depends on your goals, risk tolerance, investments, and time horizon. If you're a new investor interested in passive investing, an online robo-advisor is likely a good place to start. On the other hand, if you're looking for professional insight and a customized financial plan, you're better off with access to a human advisor through phone or video calls. 

You can also meet with an expert in person for financial guidance. So if you prefer to meet face-to-face, here are some tools to find some in your area:

• This is a database of all CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals who are authorized to use their CFP® marks by the CFP® Board and are accepting new clients.
• Using the advanced search function, you can choose from over 40 focus areas you're looking to get help with and include your current amount of investable assets.
• Click here to visit the CFP Board website .
• This database helps connect young professionals — those in generations X and Y (millennials) — with individual advisors.
• Every advisor holds the CFP® certification, is a fiduciary , does not require a minimum net worth to take on new clients, and does not earn commissions.
• Click here to visit XY Planning Network .
• This platform maintains a database of fee-only financial advisors, not specifically CFP® certificates, who commit to a fiduciary oath once a year. 
• You can filter by location to see a list of advisory firms in your area.
• Click here to visit the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors website .

Online financial advisors are generally trustworthy. The best advisors follow the fiduciary rule, meaning they operate in their clients' best interest and are fee-only. This means client fees are their only compensation, and they don't earn a commission when they invest in certain funds or buy financial products.

Not everyone needs a robo-advisor, but beginners or passive investors looking for a hands-off approach to stock trading may prefer how cost-effective and convenient robo-advisors are. Affordable financial advisors can be hard to come by, so robo-advisors are a great alternative for many people. However, a financial advisor may be better if you need specific advice on your finances or investment strategy or if you're too overwhelmed or confused by your money to plan for retirement or invest in the stock market. 

The cost of an online financial advisor varies from platform to platform and advisor to advisor. The cost largely depends on the services, licensing, account balance, and complexity. Robo-advisors typically charge lower fees than human advisors. 

Why You Should Trust Us: Our Methodology

We Reviewed the best online financial advisors using Business Insider's methodology for rating investment platforms . We compared a long list of Registered Investment advisors (RIAs), considering fees, investment selection, access, ethics, and customer service. The best online advisors have top marks in all five categories. Investment platforms are given a rating between 0 and 5.

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