simple business plan template word doc

Simple Business Plan Templates

By Joe Weller | April 2, 2020

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In this article, we’ve compiled a variety of simple business plan templates, all of which are free to download in PDF, Word, and Excel formats.

On this page, you’ll find a one-page business plan template , a simple business plan for startups , a small-business plan template , a business plan outline , and more. We also include a business plan sample and the main components of a business plan to help get you started.

Simple Business Plan Template

Download Simple Business Plan Template

This simple business plan template lays out each element of a traditional business plan to assist you as you build your own, and it provides space to add financing information for startups seeking funding. You can use and customize this simple business plan template to fit the needs for organizations of any size.

One-Page Business Plan Template

Download One-Page Business Plan Template

Excel | Word | PDF  | Smartsheet

Use this one-page business plan to document your key ideas in an organized manner. The template can help you create a high-level view of your business plan, and it provides easy scannability for stakeholders. You can use this one-page plan as a reference to build a more detailed blueprint for your business. 

For additional single page plans, take a look at " One-Page Business Plan Templates with a Quick How-To Guide ."

Simple Fill-in-the-Blank Business Plan Template

Download Simple Fill-in-the-Blank Business Plan Template

Use this fill-in-the-blank business plan template to guide you as you build your business plan. Each section comes pre-filled with sample content, with space to add customized verbiage relevant to your product or service.

For additional free, downloadable resources, visit " Free Fill-In-the-Blank Business Plan Templates ."

Simple Business Plan for Startup

‌ Download Startup Business Plan Template — Word

This business plan template is designed with a startup business in mind and contains the essential elements needed to convey key product or service details to investors and stakeholders. Keep all your information organized with this template, which provides space to include an executive summary, a company overview, competitive analysis, a marketing strategy, financial data, and more. For additional resources, visit " Free Startup Business Plan Templates and Examples ."

Simple Small-Business Plan Template

Download Simple Small-Business Plan Template

This template walks you through each component of a small-business plan, including the company background, the introduction of the management team, market analysis, product or service offerings, a financial plan, and more. This template also comes with a built-in table of contents to keep your plan in order, and it can be customized to fit your requirements.

Lean Business Plan Template

Download Lean Business Plan Template

This lean business plan template is a stripped-down version of a traditional business plan that provides only the most essential aspects. Briefly outline your company and industry overview, along with the problem you are solving, as well as your unique value proposition, target market, and key performance metrics. There is also room to list out a timeline of key activities.

Simple Business Plan Outline Template

Download Simple Business Plan Outline Template

Word  | PDF

Use this simple business plan outline as a basis to create your own business plan. This template contains 11 sections, including a title page and a table of contents, which details what each section should cover in a traditional business plan. Simplify or expand this outline to create the foundation for a business plan that fits your business needs.

Simple Business Planning Template with Timeline

Download Simple Business Planning Template with Timeline

Excel | Smartsheet

This template doubles as a project plan and timeline to track progress as you develop your business plan. This business planning template enables you to break down your work into phases and provides room to add key tasks and dates for each activity. Easily fill in the cells according to the start and end dates to create a visual timeline, as well as to ensure your plan stays on track.

Simple Business Plan Rubric Template

Download Simple Business Plan Rubric

Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet

Once you complete your business plan, use this business plan rubric template to assess and score each component of your plan. This rubric helps you identify elements of your plan that meet or exceed requirements and pinpoint areas where you need to improve or further elaborate. This template is an invaluable tool to ensure your business plan clearly defines your goals, objectives, and plan of action in order to gain buy-in from potential investors, stakeholders, and partners.

Basic Business Plan Sample

Download Basic Business Plan Sample

This business plan sample serves as an example of a basic business plan that contains all the traditional components. The sample provides a model of what a business plan might look like for a fictional food truck business. Reference this sample as you develop your own business plan.

For additional resources to help support your business planning efforts, check out “ Free Strategic Planning Templates .”

Main Components of a Business Plan

The elements you include in your business plan will depend on your product or service offerings, as well as the size and needs of your business. 

Below are the components of a standard business plan and details you should include in each section:

• Company name and contact information
• Website address
• The name of the company or individual viewing the presentation
• Table of Contents
• Company background and purpose
• Mission and vision statement
• Management team introduction
• Core product and service offerings
• Target customers and segments
• Marketing plan
• Competitive analysis
• Unique value proposition
• Financial plan (and requirements, if applicable)
• Business and industry overview
• Historical timeline of your business
• Offerings and the problem they solve
• Current alternatives
• Competitive advantage
• Market size
• Target market segment(s)
• Projected volume and value of sales compared to competitors
• Differentiation from competitors
• Pricing strategy
• Marketing channels
• Promotional plan
• Distribution methods
• Legal structure of your business
• Names of founders, owners, advisors, etc.
• Management team’s roles, relevant experience, and compensation plan
• Staffing requirements and training plans
• Physical location(s) of your business
• Additional physical requirements (e.g., warehouse, specialized equipment, facilities, etc.)
• Production workflow
• Raw materials and sourcing methods
• Projected income statement
• Projected cash flow statement
• Projected balance sheet
• Break-even analysis
• Charts and graphs
• Market research and competitive analysis
• Information about your industry
• Information about your offerings
• Samples of marketing materials
• Other supporting materials

Tips for Creating a Business Plan

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the thought of putting together a business plan. Below, you’ll find top tips to help simplify the process as you develop your own plan. 

• Use a business plan template (you can choose from the variety above), or refer to the previous section to create a standard outline for your plan.
• Modify your outline to reflect the requirements of your specific business. If you use a standard business plan outline, remove sections that aren’t relevant to you or aren’t necessary to run your business.
• Gather all the information you currently have about your business first, and then use that information to fill out each section in your plan outline.
• Use your resources and conduct additional research to fill in the remaining gaps. (Note: It isn’t necessary to fill out your plan in order, but the executive summary needs to be completed last, as it summarizes the key points in your plan.)
• Ensure your plan clearly communicates the relationship between your marketing, sales, and financial objectives.
• Provide details in your plan that illustrate your strategic plan of action, looking forward three to five years.
• Revisit your plan regularly as strategies and objectives evolve.
• What product or service are we offering?
• Who is the product or service for?
• What problem does our product or service offering solve?
• How will we get the product or service to our target customers?
• Why is our product or service better than the alternatives?
• How can we outperform our competitors?
• What is our unique value proposition?
• When will things get done, and who is responsible for doing them?
• If you need to obtain funding, how will you use the funding?
• When are payments due, and when do payments come in?
• What is the ultimate purpose of your business?
• When do you expect to be profitable?

To identify which type of business plan you should write, and for more helpful tips, take a look at our guide to writing a simple business plan .

Benefits of Using a Business Plan Template

Creating a business plan can be very time-consuming, especially if you aren’t sure where to begin. Finding the right template for your business needs can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. 

Using a business plan template — instead of creating your plan from scratch — can benefit you in the following ways:

• Enables you to immediately write down your thoughts and ideas in an organized manner
• Provides structure to help outline your plan
• Saves time and valuable resources
• Helps ensure you don’t miss essential details

Limitations of a Business Plan Template

A business plan template can be convenient, but it has its drawbacks — especially if you use a template that doesn’t fit the specific needs of your business.

Below are some limitations of using a business plan template:

• Each business is unique and needs a business plan that reflects that. A template may not fit your needs.
• A template may restrict collaboration with other team members on different aspects of the plan’s development (sales, marketing, and accounting teams).
• Multiple files containing different versions of the plan may be stored in more than one place.
• You still have to manually create charts and graphs to add to the plan to support your strategy.
• Updates to the plan, spreadsheets, and supporting documents have to be made in multiple places (all documents may not update in real time as changes are made).

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When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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Free Business Plan Template

One of the reasons that so many small businesses fail is that they don't do the necessary up front work to create an accurate and realistic business plan. Creating a business plan doesn't guarantee success, but the process of writing a plan is critical for any successful new business. It isn't our goal to try to tell you everything you need to know about creating a business plan. Instead, our goal is to make the process easier by providing a professionally designed business plan template that you can edit easily using Word and Excel .

Business Plan Template

License : Private Use (not for distribution or resale)

Authors : Jon Wittwer and Jim Wittwer

Update (7/22/2016) : We've added a basic break-even analysis worksheet to the companion Excel workbook.

Description

This template provides a business plan outline with sample questions, tables, and a working table of contents. It was created for newer versions of Word and Excel (Office 2007 or later) so that you can easily change the fonts and color scheme and the file will be compatible with the mobile and web-based Word & Excel apps.

It is best to use Excel for financial statements, data tables and charts. So, we have provided a companion Excel workbook with these sample financial statements and other tables and graphs that you can copy and paste into your Word document.

The companion workbook combines many of the different spreadsheets you can find on Vertex42.com, but customized specifically for inclusion in a business plan.

Using the Business Plan Template

Editing headings and table of contents.

Word allows you to assign format Styles to text and paragraphs, and we've designed the template to use these Styles for defining headings, sub-headings, and figure captions.

If you want to add a new section so that the Table of Contents updates correctly, just add a new heading in the body of the document and assign it the Heading 1 or Heading 2 style.

To update the Table of Contents, go to the References tab and within the Table of Contents group of buttons, click on Update Table and then "Update entire table."

Copy/Paste From Excel to Word

For simple tables, you can use Copy/Paste (Ctrl+c / Ctrl+v) to copy a table from Excel to Word. This will typically paste the data as a formatted and editable table in Word, though none of the formulas will be functional within Word (and the table will not be linked to Excel). If you don't want the table to be editable in Word, you can "Paste as a Picture" using Paste Special or by choosing the "Picture" option when you right-click in Word to paste the table.

Important : When you paste a chart object into your business plan, make sure to "Paste as a Picture" because pasting the chart as an embedded object means that the entire spreadsheet becomes embedded in your Word document (even though what you see is only the chart).

If you want to insert a table into Word as a "Linked Object" so that when you edit Excel, the table in Word will update automatically, you may have a more difficult time preserving the formatting of the original. However, at the least the entire spreadsheet won't be embedded within your business plan Word document.

More Related Templates

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

• Write Your Business Plan at SBA.gov - Anybody starting a business should become familiar with the SBA (small business association). SBA.gov also has an online tool for creating a business plan .
• YouTube: How to Write a Business Plan - Business Wales (3 minutes) - This video offers a quick overview and tips for the essential parts of a business plan.
• YouTube: How to Write a Business Plan - Berkeley-Haas (71 minutes) - This presentation offers both the venture capitalist and entrepreneur perspective on how to write a business plan that can successfully attract funding.
• Write Your Business Plan at Entrepreneur.com - A book written by the staff of a company that should know what they are talking about.
• Sample Business Plans at bplans.com - Finding a business plan for similar businesses in your industry is a great way to get ideas for what to include in your plan. This site is a great resource for not only finding sample plans, but also for creating a business plan online using their step-by-step approach.

Other Free Business Plan Templates

• Business Planning Template Gallery at SCORE.org - This nonprofit organization (supported by the SBA) has provided expertise and free mentorship for millions of small business owners. They also have a useful collection of templates.
• Develop Your Business Plan at business.gov.au - This Australian Government site provides a really good business plan template for Word, including a detailed guide, questions to answer, and sample financial statements.

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Go beyond a basic business plan template

If you're looking for a business plan template to jumpstart your plan, you're in the right place.

LivePlan is an online, easy–to–use business plan template that walks you step–by–step through the planning process.

With fill-in-the-blank inputs , simple but powerful financial forecasting, and beautiful business plans , you'll go from template to complete business plan in half the time.

Don't forget about the financial forecasts

Creating the right financial forecasts for your business is often the hardest part of writing a business plan.

Crunching the numbers by hand is tough – so much so that most free online templates skip over it completely. LivePlan gives you automated financial forecasting and makes it easy.

So, even if you've never started a business before, you can build all of the financial reports investors expect to see.

You'll get a complete profit & loss statement, cash flow forecasts, balance sheets, and more – all without ever having to look at a spreadsheet or worry about breaking a formula.

How LivePlan compares to free business plan templates:

LivePlan is way more than your basic business plan template. It's a planning tool that takes the pain out of the entire business planning process. You'll track your performance as you grow, define the tasks you need to get your business to the next level, and compare your plan against the competition. No other template comes even close.

LivePlan Makes It Easy

“I was going nuts trying to create charts and properly format them. Then a friend recommended LivePlan! The financials were so easy to use.”

“It's an awesome product. Really walks you through each phase of the business plan process with examples and benchmarks.”

Skip the hassle of Word and Excel Business Plan Templates

You could write your business plan with Word and Excel, but you'll probably end up spending countless extra hours figuring out how to get an impressive–looking document.

You'll see that Word and Excel templates also lack instructions, examples from successful business plans, and they often require in–depth financial knowledge.

Instead, choose an interactive template like LivePlan.

LivePlan's step–by–step business plan template guides you every step of the way, so you don't have to worry about formatting, getting the formulas right in some downloaded spreadsheet, or making sure your plan is in an approved format that banks and lenders expect. If you have questions while writing your plan, our expert team will help you out.

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10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

February 13, 2024

Turning your vision into a clear and coherent business plan can be confusing and tough. 

Hours of brainstorming and facing an intimidating blank page can raise more questions than answers. Are you covering everything? What should go where? How do you keep each section thorough but brief?

If these questions have kept you up at night and slowed your progress, know you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve put together the top 10 business plan templates in Word, Excel, and ClickUp—to provide answers, clarity, and a structured framework to work with. This way, you’re sure to capture all the relevant information without wasting time. 

And the best part? Business planning becomes a little less “ugh!” and a lot more “aha!” 🤩

What is a Business Plan Template?

What makes a good business plan template, 1. clickup business plan template, 2. clickup sales plan template, 3. clickup business development action plan template, 4. clickup business roadmap template, 5. clickup business continuity plan template, 6. clickup lean business plan template, 7. clickup small business action plan template, 8. clickup strategic business roadmap template , 9. microsoft word business plan template by microsoft, 10. excel business plan template by vertex42.

A business plan template is a structured framework for entrepreneurs and business executives who want to create business plans. It comes with pre-arranged sections and headings that cover key elements like the executive summary , business overview, target customers, unique value proposition, marketing plans, and financial statements.  

A good business plan template helps with thorough planning, clear documentation, and practical implementation. Here’s what to look for:

• Comprehensive structure: A good template comes with all the relevant sections to outline a business strategy, such as executive summary, market research and analysis, and financial projections 
• Clarity and guidance: A good template is easy to follow. It has brief instructions or prompts for each section, guiding you to think deeply about your business and ensuring you don’t skip important details
• Clean design: Aesthetics matter. Choose a template that’s not just functional but also professionally designed. This ensures your plan is presentable to stakeholders, partners, and potential investors
• Flexibility : Your template should easily accommodate changes without hassle, like adding or removing sections, changing content and style, and rearranging parts 🛠️ 

While a template provides the structure, it’s the information you feed it that brings it to life. These pointers will help you pick a template that aligns with your business needs and clearly showcases your vision.

10 Business Plan Templates to Use in 2024

Preparing for business success in 2024 (and beyond) requires a comprehensive and organized business plan. We’ve handpicked the best templates to help you guide your team, attract investors, and secure funding. Let’s check them out.

If you’re looking to replace a traditional business plan document, then ClickUp’s Business Plan Template is for you!

This one-page business plan template, designed in ClickUp Docs , is neatly broken down into the following sections:

• Company description : Overview, mission, vision, and team
• Market analysis : Problem, solution, target market, competition, and competitive advantage
• Sales and marketing strategy : Products/services and marketing channels
• Operational plan : Location and facilities, equipment and tools, manpower, and financial forecasts
• Milestones and metrics: Targets and KPIs

Customize the template with your company logo and contact details, and easily navigate to different sections using the collapsible table of contents. The mini prompts under each section guide you on what to include—with suggestions on how to present the data (e.g., bullet lists, pictures, charts, and tables). 

You can share the document with anyone via URL and collaborate in real time. And when the business plan is ready, you have the option to print it or export it to PDF, HTML, or Markdown.

But that’s not all. This template is equipped with basic and enterprise project management features to streamline the business plan creation process . The Topics List view has a list of all the different sections and subsections of the template and allows you to assign it to a team member, set a due date, and attach relevant documents and references.

Switch from List to Board view to track and update task statuses according to the following: To Do, In Progress, Needs Revision, and Complete. 

This template is a comprehensive toolkit for documenting the different sections of your business plan and streamlining the creation process to ensure it’s completed on time. 🗓️

If you’re looking for a tool to kickstart or update your sales plan, ClickUp’s Sales Plan Template has got you covered. This sales plan template features a project summary list with tasks to help you craft a comprehensive and effective sales strategy. Some of these tasks include:

• Determine sales objectives and goals
• Draft positioning statement
• Perform competitive analysis
• Draft ideal customer persona
• Create a lead generation strategy

Assign each task to a specific individual or team, set priority levels , and add due dates. Specify what section of the sales plan each task belongs to (e.g., executive summary, revenue goals, team structure, etc.), deliverable type (such as document, task, or meeting), and approval state (like pending, needs revisions, and approved).

And in ClickUp style, you can switch to multiple views: List for a list of all tasks, Board for visual task management, Timeline for an overview of task durations, and Gantt to get a view of task dependencies. 

This simple business plan template is perfect for any type of business looking to create a winning sales strategy while clarifying team roles and keeping tasks organized. ✨

Thinking about scaling your business’s reach and operations but unsure where or how to start? It can be overwhelming, no doubt—you need a clear vision, measurable goals, and an actionable plan that every member of your team can rally behind. 

Thankfully, ClickUp’s Business Development Action Plan Template is designed to use automations to simplify this process so every step toward your business growth is clear, trackable, and actionable.

Start by assessing your current situation and deciding on your main growth goal. Are you aiming to increase revenue, tap into new markets, or introduce new products or services? With ClickUp Whiteboards or Docs, brainstorm and collaborate with your team on this decision.

Set and track your short- and long-term growth goals with ClickUp’s Goals , break them down into smaller targets, and assign these targets to team members, complete with due dates. Add these targets to a new ClickUp Dashboard to track real-time progress and celebrate small wins. 🎉

Whether you’re a startup or small business owner looking to hit your next major milestone or an established business exploring new avenues, this template keeps your team aligned, engaged, and informed every step of the way.

ClickUp’s Business Roadmap Template is your go-to for mapping out major strategies and initiatives in areas like revenue growth, brand awareness, community engagement, and customer satisfaction. 

Use the List view to populate tasks under each initiative. With Custom Fields, you can capture which business category (e.g., Product, Operations, Sales & Marketing, etc.) tasks fall under and which quarter they’re slated for. You can also link to relevant documents and resources and evaluate tasks by effort and impact to ensure the most critical tasks get the attention they deserve. 👀

Depending on your focus, this template provides different views to show just what you need. For example, the All Initiatives per Quarter view lets you focus on what’s ahead by seeing tasks that need completion within a specific quarter. This ensures timely execution and helps in aligning resources effectively for the short term.

This template is ideal for business executives and management teams who need to coordinate multiple short- and long-term initiatives and business strategies.

In business, unexpected threats to operations can arise at any moment. Whether it’s economic turbulence, a global health crisis, or supply chain interruptions, every company needs to be ready. ClickUp’s Business Continuity Plan Template lets you prepare proactively for these unforeseen challenges.

The template organizes tasks into three main categories:

• Priorities: Tasks that need immediate attention
• Continuity coverage: Tasks that must continue despite challenges
• Guiding principles: Resources and protocols to ensure smooth operations

The Board view makes it easy to visualize all the tasks under each of these categories. And the Priorities List sorts tasks by those that are overdue, the upcoming ones, and then the ones due later.

In times of uncertainty, being prepared is your best strategy. This template helps your business not just survive but thrive in challenging situations, keeping your customers, employees, and investors satisfied. 🤝

Looking to execute your business plan the “lean” way? Use ClickUp’s Lean Business Plan Template . It’s designed to help you optimize resource usage and cut unnecessary steps—giving you better results with less effort.

In the Plan Summary List view, list all the tasks that need to get done. Add specific details like who’s doing each task, when it’s due, and which part of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) it falls under. The By Priority view sorts this list based on priorities like Urgent, High, Normal, and Low. This makes it easy to spot the most important tasks and tackle them first.

Additionally, the Board view gives you an overview of task progression from start to finish. And the BMC view rearranges these tasks based on the various BMC components. 

Each task can further be broken down into subtasks and multiple checklists to ensure all related action items are executed. ✔️

This template is an invaluable resource for startups and large enterprises looking to maximize process efficiencies and results in a streamlined and cost-effective way.

The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality. 

It provides a simple and organized framework for creating, assigning, prioritizing, and tracking tasks. And in effect, it ensures that goals are not just set but achieved. Through the native dashboard and goal-setting features, you can monitor task progress and how they move you closer to achieving your goals.

Thanks to ClickUp’s robust communication features like chat, comments, and @mentions, it’s easy to get every team member on the same page and quickly address questions or concerns.

Use this action plan template to hit your business goals by streamlining your internal processes and aligning team efforts.

For larger businesses and scaling enterprises, getting different departments to work together toward a big goal can be challenging. The ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template makes it easier by giving you a clear plan to follow.

This template is packaged in a folder and split into different lists for each department in your business, like Sales, Product, Marketing, and Enablement. This way, every team can focus on their tasks while collectively contributing to the bigger goal.

There are multiple viewing options available for team members. These include:

• Progress Board: Visualize tasks that are on track, those at risk, and those behind
• Gantt view: Get an overview of project timelines and dependencies
• Team view: See what each team member is working on so you can balance workloads for maximum productivity

While this template may feel overwhelming at first, the getting started guide offers a step-by-step breakdown to help you navigate it with ease. And like all ClickUp templates, you can easily customize it to suit your business needs and preferences.

Microsoft’s 20-page traditional business plan template simplifies the process of drafting comprehensive business plans. It’s made up of different sections, including:

• Executive summary : Highlights, objectives, mission statement, and keys to success
• Description of business: Company ownership and legal structure, hours of operation, products and services, suppliers, financial plans, etc.
• Marketing: Market analysis, market segmentation, competition, and pricing
• Appendix: Start-up expenses, cash flow statements, income statements, sales forecast, milestones, break-even analysis, etc.

The table of contents makes it easy to move to different sections of the document. And the text placeholders under each section provide clarity on the specific details required—making the process easier for users who may not be familiar with certain business terminology.

No business template roundup is complete without an Excel template. This business plan template lets you work on your business financials in Excel. It comes with customizable tables, formulas, and charts to help you look at the following areas:

• Highlight charts
• Market analysis
• Start-up assets and expenses
• Sales forecasts
• Profit and loss
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow projections
• Break-even analysis

This Excel template is especially useful when you want to create a clear and visual financial section for your business plan document—an essential element for attracting investors and lenders. However, there might be a steep learning curve to using this template if you’re not familiar with business financial planning and using Excel.

Try a Free Business Plan Template in ClickUp

Launching and running a successful business requires a well-thought-out and carefully crafted business plan. However, the business planning process doesn’t have to be complicated, boring, or take up too much time. Use any of the above 10 free business plan formats to simplify and speed up the process.

ClickUp templates go beyond offering a solid foundation to build your business plans. They come with extensive project management features to turn your vision into reality. And that’s not all— ClickUp’s template library offers over 1,000 additional templates to help manage various aspects of your business, from decision-making to product development to resource management .

Sign up for ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan today to fast-track your business’s growth! 🏆

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35+ Best Business Plan Templates for Word 2024

Are you writing a business plan for a brand new startup? Or updating an old business plan for an established brand? Then this collection of MS Word business plan templates will definitely come in handy.

The key to making an effective business plan brochure that wins over investors and inspires employees is to use a modern and attractive design.

No one wants to read through a 100-page brochure that looks like a VCR manual from the 1960s. Today, people prefer cleaner brochure layouts with proper paragraph formatting that offer a much smoother reading experience.

Designing such modern business plan documents is not that difficult. In fact, you can easily create them using Word templates.

In this post, we showcase high-quality business plan templates for Word that have been designed by professionals. They feature modern designs and clean layouts that are perfect for all kinds of startups, businesses, and corporate companies. Have a look.

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Education Business Plan Word Template

This Word template is designed for making business plan documents related to educational brands and businesses. However, you can easily customize the design to make business plans for various other industries. The template includes 20 unique page layouts with modern designs.

Business Plan & Proposal Template for Word

You can use this Word template to make both business proposals and business plans. It has a very flexible page design that you can change to make brochures for startups, agencies, and other businesses. There are 20 pages in this template in A4 size.

Bold Business Plan Word Template

If you want to make a bold business plan with a high-end luxury feel, this Word template will come in handy. It features a dark color theme that will fit in nicely with luxury brands, hotels, corporate agencies, and more. The template has 56 different page layouts. It comes in Word, Apple Pages, and InDesign formats.

Big Business Plan Brochure Template for Word

Get started with this Word template to make business plan documents with clean and minimal design. It includes 28 unique pages with easily editable layouts. You can change its colors, fonts, and images with ease. The template is available in multiple formats, including Word, InDesign, Affinity Publisher, and more.

Free Simple Business Plan Word Template

While this free business plan template only has 4 page layouts and a simple design, it’s more than enough for making a basic business plan document for a small business. It comes in Word and Apple Pages formats.

Tropo – Minimalist Business Plan for Word

Tropo is a minimalist business plan template designed for Microsoft Word. It’s user-friendly, designed with organized files for effortless customization, and is suitable for creating business proposals. Tropo offers 32 editable pages, customizable fonts, and colors, well-organised layers, and is print-ready.

Business Proposal Template for Word

This is a professional-quality business proposal template for Word that offers flexibility and ease of customization. This 20-page template can be easily edited to suit your unique business needs without jeopardizing the layout or the readability. It’s fully customizable, well-layered, and organized.

This is an adaptable template, perfect for showcasing your unique services and business plans to new clients. It’s a user-friendly, customizable template, enabling designers to express their brand and work competence professionally. The pack includes a 20-page InDesign and Microsoft Word templates.

Business Proposal Template for Word & InDesign

A versatile business proposal template ideal for constructing thorough business plans or proposals. Compatible with Microsoft Word 2010 and higher, as well as Adobe InDesign CS4 and above, the template offers a comprehensive 16-page document that can adapt for print or digital output.

Business Plan & Project Proposal Template

This is a comprehensive business proposal template for Word. Boasting 40 pages of editable sections such as company details, project timelines, budget specifics, and more, the template utilizes a structured editorial layout to organize information efficiently.

Multipurpose Business Brochure Word Template

This brochure template features multipurpose page layouts. This means you can edit and customize each page to make many different types of documents, including business plans and proposals. It has 20 unique pages in A4 size.

Creative Business Plan Template for Word

This is a massive business plan template that comes with more than 60 different page layouts to choose from. It’s especially suitable for agencies and startups for making a high-quality business plan document. The template is available in Word and InDesign formats.

Company Proposal & Business Plan Word Template

Whether you want to make a business plan or a proposal document, this Word template can handle both. It features a modern and professional layout for making documents for corporate businesses. The template includes 20 pages in A4 size.

Education School Plan Template for Word

You can use this Word template to make a stylish business plan or educational plan for a school. The template has fully customizable paragraph styles, editable colors, fonts, images, and much more. It has 20 page custom layouts.

Free Agency Business Plan Word Template

This free business plan template includes 5 page layouts with very simple and basic designs. You can use it to make business plan documents for advertising and design agencies. It’s available in Apple Pages format too.

Modern Business Plan Template for Word

A business plan document is about presenting your goals, missions, and vision for the company in an appealing way. Having a great-looking design is a must for achieving that task. This Word template will help you create such a business plan document. It includes 20 different page layouts with modern designs. And you can edit it using either MS Word or InDesign.

Clean Business Plan Microsoft Word Template

If you want to make sure your business plan looks more professional, a clean and minimal design is the best choice for your brochure. With this template, you can design a clean and professional-looking business plan to showcase your business goals. It includes 16 page layouts with fully customizable designs. You can also choose from 3 different color schemes to design your document.

Simple Business Plan Template for Word

This Word business plan template uses a very simple design. It doesn’t have too many design elements, images, or lots of colors. Instead, the design puts more focus on the contents of the document. This approach makes it a great template for designing a highly effective business plan for many different types of businesses. It includes 12 page layouts as well.

Business Plan Brochure Template for Word

If you want to make an impressive and attractive business plan brochure for a big company or a corporate brand, this Word template will come in handy. It features 48 different page layouts with modern and stylish designs. The template is available in both MS Word and InDesign formats. And, as a bonus, you also get letterhead and business card templates.

One Page Business Plan Template for Word

Sometimes a simple one-page document is more than enough to highlight the key points of a business plan. This template is ideal for making such brochures. The template comes with 4 page layouts but you can easily customize it to create one-page or even multi-page documents.

Professional Services Free Business Plan Word Template

This free business plan template for Word comes directly from the official MS Office templates directory. It’s free to download and features page layouts with modern designs. It’s ideal for creating a business plan for small agencies.

Free Word Business Plan Template for Freelancers

Another free Word business plan template from the Office directory. This template is designed with freelancers and agencies that specialize in home-based professional services. It includes a fully editable layout as well.

Editable Business Plan Template for Word

Every Word template should give you the freedom to edit, customize, and do anything you want with the design. This template lets you do all that and more. It features a fully editable layout that you can customize to your preference. The template also includes 40 page layouts that come in A4 and US Letter sizes.

Minimal Business Plan Word Template

Looking for a clean, simple, and minimalist business plan template? Then this Word template is made just for you. It has a very light and simple layout that allows you to showcase all elements of your business plan in a professional way. The template includes 32 page layouts and it’s available in Word and InDesign formats.

Startup Business Plan Word Template

This Word business plan template is designed specifically for startups and agencies. It features a set of modern page layouts, 20 custom page designs to be exact. You can also customize each page layout by changing colors and fonts. It comes in US Letter and A4 sizes as well.

4-Page Business Plan Template for Word

You can create a powerful four-page business plan using this Word template. It features an effective page design that is ideal for creating a summary of your business plan. The template is fully customizable and it’s available in Word, IDML, and INDD formats.

One Page Simple Business Plan Word Template

This simple and minimal business plan template is perfect for making a one-page brochure or even a two-page document. The template comes with 2 page layouts that you can use to create a simple double-sided one-page business plan. Or you can print them separately too. It’s very basic but quite effective at the same time.

Free Simple Business Plan Template for Word

A free business plan template that you can edit and customize in Word. This template has a very basic and blank design that you can use however you like. You can make this template your own by adding a few design elements as well.

Free One-Page Business Plan Template for Word

This is a free one-page business plan template that has a minimal layout for making a straightforward business plan brochure. It includes multiple sections for detailing different aspects of your business plan.

Marketing & Sales Plan Word Template

Marketing and sales plans are also part of a business plan, especially for marketing agencies. With this Word template, you can design an effective sales plan for your business. The template features 32 different page layouts in A4 size. It comes in Word and InDesign versions as well.

Real Estate Business Plan Template for Word

This Word template features a very clean and visual-centric design that’s ideal for making business plans for real estate and rental property businesses. There are more than 30 unique page layouts in this template with easily editable designs. You can change colors, fonts, and paragraphs however you like to fit your brand.

Basic Microsoft Word Business Plan Template

If you want to make a simple and basic business plan for a small company, this Word template is for you. It features a minimal layout with a basic design for making a small brochure. You can use 4 different page layouts to create your business plan. And it’s fully customizable too.

Simple Word Business Plan Template

This business plan template also features a simple design. It’s ideal for startups, agencies, and even small businesses for making a business plan to motivate employees and even set goals for your future. The template includes 4 page designs in A4 size.

A creative business plan Word template that comes with more than 50 different page designs. With this template, you can make all kinds of business plan brochures for various types of brands. The template also includes editable colors, paragraphs, objects, free fonts, and so much more.

Business Project Plan Template for Word

A simple business plan template for small brands. This template includes 3 unique page layouts for crafting a basic business plan. It’s ideal even for solopreneurs and freelancers for creating a strategy for your business. It comes in A4 size.

Free Healthcare Business Plan Word Template

This free business plan template is made with businesses and companies in the healthcare industry. It features a clean design with several page layouts you can use to craft an effective business plan.

Free Editable Business Plan Template for Word

Another blank and basic business plan Word template you can download for free. This template has very simple page layouts but they are ideal for creating an effective business plan brochure for small businesses.

Be sure to check out our best Word templates collection for more design inspiration.

Download Free Business Plan Examples

Download a free business plan in pdf or word doc format to make writing a plan fast and easy, find your sample plan.

Discover the sample plan that best fits your business. Search our gallery of over 550 sample business plans and find the one that's right for you.

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What You'll Get:

A complete business plan Unlike other blank templates, our business plan examples are complete business plans with all of the text and financial forecasts already filled out. Edit the text to make the plan your own and save hundreds of hours.

A professional business plan template All 550 of our business plans are in the SBA-approved format that’s proven to raise money from lenders and investors.

Instructions and help at every step Get help with clear, simple instructions for each section of the business plan. No business experience necessary.

A Word doc you can edit We don’t just have PDF documents that make editing a challenge. Each plan is available in Word format so you can start editing your business plan example right away.

Key Sections Included in our Example Business Plans:

Executive Summary : A quick overview of your plan and entices investors to read more of your plan.

Company : Describes the ownership and history of your business.

Products and Services : Reviews what you sell and what you’re offering your customers.

Market Analysis : Describes your customers and the size of your target market.

Strategy and Implementation : Provides the details of how you plan on building the business.

Management Team : An overview of the people behind the business and why they’re the right team to make the business a success.

Financial Plan : A complete set of forecasts including a Profit and Loss Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet.

Looking for a sample business plan PDF? You can download a few PDF examples below:

• Accounting and Bookkeeping Sample Business Plan PDF
• Agriculture Farm Sample Business Plan PDF
• Cleaning Service Sample Business Plan PDF

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6+ FREE Multipage Business Plan Templates: Your Path to Business Excellence

Why is a business plan called the “foundation” of a business, download business plan templates in ms word format.

#1 – General Business Plan Format

#2 – Business Plan Template with Sample Data

Helpful Video Tutorial

#3 – nonprofit business plan.

#4 – Small Business Plan

#5 – Startup Business Plan

#6 – Business Continuity Plan

How does a business plan help you start and manage your business?

Serves as your light in the tunnel:, earns you triple the outcomes:, helps you in proving your efficacy:, helps you in securing investments and funding:, brings the right team on board:, how does one jump into the process of business plan designing.

• The Concept and idea behind your business
• Identifying your potential Clients or Customers
• Carving the Cashflow trails that can be expected

How do we organize a business plan for maximum efficiency?

• Executive summary – company’s goals (short-term as well as long-term), missions, and objectives
• Company and enterprise description – the structure, nature, history, mission, goals, and strategies. Explain what your enterprise aims to achieve and the industry it operates in.
• Products/services – What offerings will you provide to your market?
• Market Analysis – Understand your targeted customer base, industry knowledge, marketing data, and insights into your competitors.
• SWOT analysis – Analyzing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to refine your strategy.
• Strategy and Implementation – Craft a sales and marketing strategy, plan for business promotion, navigate market entry, manage production and delivery, and outline your workforce strategies.
• Legal considerations – Address the legal matters essential for legitimizing your enterprise.
• Financial plans and projections – Detail profit and funding generation, strategies for sales maximization, cash flow management, and income statement projections.
• Timeline – Establish a timeline to track milestones and goals for your enterprise’s development.
• Appendix – Include additional supporting documents and resources.

How to choose the most appropriate plan for one’s business?

• A strategic plan can be chosen when you specifically want to focus on the organization’s vision and properties.
• A traditional plan can be selected when you wish to stick to the basic, standard template
• A lean plan can be your out-of-the-box thinking, helping you formulate a document based on new ideas. It takes less time to be formulated and is a summarized document.

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Do you want to start your small business, startup, or offer professional creative services? With our business plan templates , you can create the best multi or one-page proposal featuring a layout for several businesses and organizations. Our simple business plans  feature a restaurant, real estate, retail, and marketing companies. Likewise, you can also grab a PDF Template  for specific entities such as daycare and nonprofit organizations. You can produce the best business plan for your upcoming brand, product, or service with your financial details and business studies. Start by downloading the perfect format and content template today.

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Business Plan Template

Use this free Business Plan Template for Word to manage your projects better.

To start your business journey on the right foot, download our free business plan template and break down your business goals into actionable components.

Before you can start your business, you need to find your niche, seek financial backing and create a business plan to bring your idea to fruition. Our free business plan template will guide you through every step of the way. But first, let’s quickly define what a business plan is.

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that explains how a business will operate and establish itself in the market to generate profits. Business plans are usually created before a new business starts, to make sure there are no loose ends that could affect its profitability or ability to operate. They can also be created for business improvement purposes.

Business plans are also crucial for raising funds for new business ventures, as they’re used to provide the key details an investor should know to determine whether or not a business is a sound investment.

What Is a Business Plan Template?

Our business plan template outlines the business, product or service that you want to launch. It also details the market you’re targeting, the goals and objectives of the venture and how you propose to achieve them.

The business plan is one of the three pillars that any new idea must stand on to be successful. The other two are a marketing plan and a financial plan. These will be touched upon in part within the business plan template and included in full as supporting documents.

What Should Be Included In a Business Plan Template?

Business plans vary from one organization to another. However, there are key elements that any business plan should have to provide a clear picture of a business, especially if you’re creating a business plan to request funding from investors. Here’s an outline that includes some of the most fundamental aspects to add to your business plans.

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Market analysis
• Marketing & sales strategy
• Operational plan
• Financial projections
• Organizational structure and management
• Legal structure

While you can decide how thorough you want your business plan to be, you’ll want to provide as many details as possible. A detailed business plan can reveal significant flaws in your business model. Business planning flaws such as ignoring industry trends can cost your company money, or could even lead to bankruptcy, so it’s important that you take your time when making a business plan.

How to Use This Free Business Plan Template

Now, let’s dive into each of those sections to have a better idea of how to use this business plan template for Word.

Executive Summary

Here’s where you lay out your idea. Your executive summary is the elevator pitch, something that encapsulates your business plan contents in just one page or a couple of paragraphs.

The main purpose of your executive summary is to highlight the key elements from your business plan thatyou wish to communicate to investors or stakeholders such as the market opportunity, an overview of how you’ll manage the venture, competitive advantages, key aspects of the company background, etc.

Company Description

This section explains what your company does and what it intends to achieve.

• Mission statement: The mission statement is a short action declaration that explains the purpose of your business and what it does. It should be one or two sentences long.
• Vision statement: The vision statement is similar to your mission statement in terms of length, but the vision statement states the future goals of the organization.
• Value proposition: The value proposition explains how your company will offer value to customers in a unique way that differentiates it from the competition.
• Core values: The core values are the guiding principles that shape your company’s organizational culture, such as integrity, innovation and collaboration.

Market Analysis

This section should explain to readers how your company intends to compete and position itself in a particular market. To do so, you should include the following:

• Industry analysis: Provide an overview of your business industry. Briefly explain if there are any current trends that might affect your business, either positively or negatively, such as new competitors, new technologies or any other changes. You should include statistics to explain how your industry has grown over the years to convince stakeholders of its value.
• Target market: The target market section should explain the ideal customer for your products. Your marketing activities will be focused on this type of customer, so it should be the most profitable customer to serve. You can easily express what your target market is by creating buyer personas.
• Direct competitors: Direct competitors are businesses that offer exactly the same type of product you do and also serve the same target market. For this reason, you should use your unique value proposition to differentiate from them. Think about two different brands of soda. They offer the exact same product to the same market, at the same place.
• Indirect competitors: Indirect competitors are businesses that offer substitute products to your target market, which means they don’t offer the same product as you do, but their product could also be used to satisfy the same customer need. Now think about butter and margarine. While the product isn’t exactly the same, it can be purchased by customers to satisfy the same need.
• SWOT analysis: SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is a very important part of a business plan because it allows you to do a quick assessment of your current competitive position by looking at the internal strengths and weaknesses of your business while also considering any opportunities and threats from the external environment, such as the risk of new competitors or the opportunity of an underserved market.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

The purpose of this section is to explain how your company will market the product to your customers. It uses the 4 Ps of marketing as the guiding principle.

• Product: Explain what your product is, how it works and how it’s meant to be used. Also, explain some of the main attributes or features that make it superior to other products on the market. This can be anything such as lower production costs , durability or ease of use.
• Price: Pricing is an important part of your marketing strategy. Use this template to indicate your estimated profit margin along with a general description of the expected costs.
• Place: Place simply refers to two main things. Your sales channels, which are the methods you use to sell your product, such as online e-commerce platforms or brick-and-mortar locations and your distribution channels, which are the methods of transportation you’ll use to bring your product from the production line to the final customer.
• Promotion: Use this section to explain the various methods you’ll use to advertise your product, such as websites, social media platforms or traditional methods such as TV, newspaper or radio ads.

Operational Plan

This section should provide a quick overview of how your business will operate by outlining the following areas:

• Day-to-day operations: Briefly explain how your business will serve customers or manufacture products. The goal is to provide a quick overview of the daily operations of your business for stakeholders and investors.
• Supply chain: Every business needs to purchase raw materials, parts and components to deliver products or services to its target market. Use this section to explain the key steps in your supply chain , and who are your key suppliers.
• Permits and regulatory compliance: Use this section to list any permits or regulatory compliance standards your products should meet, if any.

Financial Projections

Use this section to attach any financial documents you might have. If you’re starting a new business you can use financial forecasts. Here are some of the financial documents you can include.

• Income statements
• Balance sheets
• Cash flow statements
• Capital expenditure budgets
• Cost forecasts
• Gross profit projections
• Profit & loss statement
• Projected balance sheet

In addition to these documents, it’s advisable to include an exit strategy. The exit strategy is a contingency plan that’s executed to minimize losses for investors and business owners in the event of bankruptcy or if the business must be terminated at some point. Use this section to briefly explain how you’d execute your exit strategy.

Management Team and Key Personnel

It helps to build confidence and give investors a sense of the risk they’re dealing with if you can provide profiles of your executive and management team. In fact, anyone who will be instrumental in executing the business plan should be included. Their skills and experience can go a long way to realizing your business plan.

Legal Structure

Last but not least, use this section to explain whether your business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or any other type of legal structure.

While you can decide how thorough you want your business plan to be, the more details you provide the better, as a detailed business plan can reveal significant flaws in your business model. Business planning flaws such as ignoring industry trends can cost your company money, or could even lead to bankruptcy, so it’s important that you take your time when making a business plan.

Why Should You Use a Business Plan Template?

The main reason for a business plan template is to show off your idea in the best possible way to attract investors by collecting the points that show why your business, product or service is viable.

The other reason is that nothing is possible without a plan. Launching a new business, product or service is a project, and a project without a plan is like a boat without a rudder. It might not sink, but it’s unlikely to get where you want it to go.

There are more detailed reasons to take the time and effort required to fill in our business plan template. For example, a bank and investors won’t let you in the door without a business plan. The same is true for any potential partners.

On top of that, the template provides broad strokes as to how to implement your idea . This is vitally important if you sway your investors and need to make the plan a reality.

Once you have investors on board, you need to turn your business plan into a viable project. Project management software like ProjectManager can help. Our Gantt charts can organize tasks, track costs, allocate resources and more. Plus, live dashboards give you a high-level view of performance to catch issues before they become problems. With project management software, you can plan, track and report on everything that matters. We’ll help you make your business plan a successful venture.

When Should You Use This Free Business Plan Template for Word?

You should use a business plan template when you’re getting ready to shop your idea for the bank, investors or a partner. Before using our template, you’ll want to have done all the necessary due diligence.

In other words, once you have an idea for the business, product or service, you need to do market research to see where it fits in the larger commercial landscape. Then, you’ll need to figure out how much capital you’ll need to realize the idea.

Once you have all the work done for your proposal, then you can start the process of filling in the business plan template. The more thorough your preparation, the more convincing your plan and the more likely you’ll get it off the ground.

Who Should Use This Free Business Plan Template for Word?

Anyone who is planning to run a business needs to use our business plan template. It’s your roadmap  and provides you with a plan forward by outlining objectives, establishing priorities and more.

You’ll also need this business plan template if you already have an established business and are looking for buyers to sell it to. This is also true if you’re looking to determine the value of your business says for taxes or estate planning.

How to Track the Execution of Your Business Plan With ProjectManager

ProjectManager is award-winning software that helps you organize your plan and execute it more effectively. Once you’ve filled in your business plan template, the real work begins. Our tool helps you create a schedule and manage your resources to successfully deliver your plan.

Gantt Charts to Plan

Use our Gantt chart project view to input your tasks or import the task list from any spreadsheet. You can also use one of the many industry-specific templates loaded into the tool to get you started. Then add durations for your tasks and they’ll populate the timeline side of the Gantt, giving you a full picture of the plan laid out chronologically.

Dashboards to Track Progress

When you execute your plan, you need to monitor its actual progress to make sure you’re on track. Our real-time dashboard collects status updates and automatically monitors your schedule, costs and other vital metrics, displaying them in easy-to-read graphs and charts. This high-level view helps you catch issues before they become problems.

Reports for Your Stakeholders

Keeping executives and other stakeholders in the loop is important. One-click reporting makes it simple to get data on the performance of your plan as it’s executed and then share those reports. They can even be filtered to give stakeholders the only information they want.

There’s so much more that ProjectManager does to make sure your plan is a success. From unlimited file storage to resource and team management, we allow you to make your business plan and implement it successfully.

What Other Free Excel Templates Can Help You Build a Business Plan?

Our business plan template collects a lot of information, but in order to have a thought-through plan, you’ll want to use some of the other free project management templates we have free on our website.

Project Charter Template

For your plan to work, you need to have a project charter. Our free project charter template helps you figure out the scope of your project, identify objectives and deliverables and even start figuring out the tasks, resources and costs for the work to come.

Statement of Work Template

The statement of work outlines the course of your project plan, including activities, deliverables and the timetable. It defines these essential components of any plan and acts as the first step in your journey to creating a project plan. The free statement of work (SOW) template lays it all out for you.

Project Proposal Template

Before the plan comes the proposal. It’s the pitch to get your project approved so you can then create a plan. The free project proposal template sets the stage and all you have to do is add the details. When approved you have already made the first step towards a plan, which makes it that much easier.

Related Business Planning Resources

If you’re looking for more information about business and planning, then check out the resources page on our website. We have tutorial videos, blog posts and guides that address every aspect of project management. Here are just a few relevant articles.

• 15 Free Word and Excel Templates for Business 
• Strategic Planning in Business
• Why You Need a Reliable Business Continuity Plan
• How to Choose a Project Planner That’s Right for You

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25+ Simple Business Plan Templates for Word for Startups + Funding 2024

Business plans are like road maps: it’s possible to travel without one, but that will only increase the odds of getting lost along the way.

A business plan is a 20-30 page document that outlines how you will achieve your business objectives and includes information about your product, marketing strategies, and finances. You should create one when you’re starting a new business and keep updating it as your business grows.

Sometimes, the prospect of cobbling together a business plan from scratch is daunting. That’s why templates are the perfect solution in these cases. This roundup of the best Microsoft Word business plan templates gives you plenty of premium and free options to choose from. Read on.

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Get everything you need to supercharge your Microsoft Word projects. From just $16, get unlimited access to thousands of Word templates and for stationery, reports, invoices, magazines, and so much more.

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Minimal Business Plan Word Template

Minimalism is often considered a sign of professionalism and authority. With this business plan template, you can make sure to include both aspects in your brochure design. It comes with a clean yet stylish page design that suits all types of brands. There are 32 different page layouts included in the template.

Modern Business Plan Template for Word

If you prefer to give a more dark and modern look to your business plan brochure, this Word template is perfect for your business. It includes 56 different page layouts with professionally crafted designs. The template is available in Word, InDesign, and Apple Pages formats.

Multipurpose Business Plan Template Word & InDesign

This Word business plan template features a creative design across all of its pages. There are 64 different pages for you to choose from. And it comes in A4 and US Letter sizes as well. You can easily edit the template using MS Word or InDesign.

Simple Business Plan Template for MS Word

You can use this Word template to create a simple and basic business plan document with ease. It includes 4 different page layouts that allow you to create a short and concise business plan. It comes in InDesign and Word formats.

Clean Business Plan Template for Word

This template features a clean and modern design that’s perfect for the business plan of a startup company. It offers 16 unique pages customizable in Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign. This business plan template Word DOC works well for nearly all kinds of businesses.

MS Word Business Plan Template

This is a solid choice for anyone looking to hunt down the best Microsoft Word business plan templates. It features 20 meticulously designed pages in A4 size, free fonts, and a help file. Use this template to create an impressive business plan.

Simple Business Plan Template Word DOC

Print ready and fully customizable, this business plan template comes with 52 pages of remarkable design. This completely layered template is compatible with Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign and will make you skate through the tedious task of editing.

Microsoft Word Business Plan Template

If you’re looking for a minimal, and strictly professional business plan template for Word, the above-featured product is an excellent contender for your cash. It will help state your company’s ambitions, strategies, timelines, and finances in the best way possible.

Business Plan Template for Word

Print ready and fully editable, this brochure template includes 28 pages of extraordinary design. It’s Microsoft Word-friendly and completely layered to make your work life a lot easier. So kick-start 2020 with this efficient corporate brochure template.

Create your own opportunities with this awesome business plan template. Originally designed with Adobe InDesign, this template also comes in the latest versions available for Microsoft Word.

Need a creative corporate business plan template? Then check out this next print template created in Adobe InDesign. A special Microsoft Word file has also been included for quick updates. Get 36 custom pages and a premade cover layout.

Professional Business Plan Template for Word

Use this template to prepare a detailed business plan for your startup and probably land funding. It features a modern, and eye-catching design that can be personalized to your branding and aesthetics. You’ll have a difficult time finding free business plan templates for Word with quality this good.

Elegant Business Plan Template Word DOC

If you really want to make a good impression on potential investors, you should take a closer look at this MS Word business plan template. It offers 28 custom pages in A4 size, CMYL color space, free fonts, and more. Try it out, or add it to your shortlist at the very least.

Minimalistic Business Plan Template for Word

This clean, sophisticated design includes 36 pages for you to customize in any way you like. The creative business plan template also includes files for Microsoft Word, for your convenience.

This clean and professional template will help you craft amazing opportunities for your business. Enjoy the stylish design which features a grid-based layout and only free fonts. Invoice and letterhead templates are also included for a well-rounded brand package.

Take control of your business dreams with this professional business plan. Available in both Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word formats, this brochure features A4 and US Letter sizes with 16 custom pages. Just drag and drop your photos and information to get started.

Enjoy three stunning yet simple color schemes with this next business plan template. This no-hassle design includes a minimalist theme perfect for beginners. Break down your expense reports, project descriptions and more with one helpful set.

Writing your business plans takes up enough time and energy. So cut your worries in half with a professionally designed template you can customize to your needs. This helpful resource comes with fully layered documents and a custom cover design for a fast turnaround.

Highlight your company’s finances with this extraordinary brochure. This template features 22 custom pages designed with intriguing layout options. Enjoy the trendy design with beautiful colors you can update yourself. Check it out!

This professional template includes 16 pages originally designed with Microsoft Word. Describe your company’s strategy, projections, and services with an effective template available in seven color samples.

Get started on your next creative project with this minimalist proposal template. Designed for entrepreneurs and business professionals, this template features 24 fully layered pages in high-resolution formats. Easily access text and paragraph styles for a custom look!

Free Business Plan Templates For Word

Free business plan template for word.

This free business plan template is ideal for making a very basic brochure to showcase your business plan. It’s made with advertising agencies in mind. The template is available in MS Word, Apple Pages, and Google Docs formats.

Free Simple Business Plan Word Template

You can make a simple business plan brochure for a small business using this free Word template. It includes all the main page layouts you’ll need to cover the important aspects of your business plan.

Free Commercial Contractor Business Plan Template Word

This free business plan template is designed with commercial contractors in mind. It includes several useful page layouts with easily editable designs. The template comes in Word, Google Docs, and Apple Pages formats.

Use this professional services business plan template to help you create a solid plan. This business planning template tells the story of your business’s vision and how you expect to achieve success. Use this professionally written business plan template to clarify your plan and to share with it your team, outside investors, and future leaders.

Define and communicate the vision for your business with this business plan template for Word. This business plan template includes guidance on what makes a great plan using a new coffee shop as an example. Fill in this simple business plan template with the details of your business for a stunning plan you can present to your stakeholders and potential clients.

The 5 Best Tools to Write a Business Plan

Last Updated on June 3, 2024 by Owen McGab Enaohwo

When you start a business , it’s crucial to set clear, realistic goals and think about how you will achieve them. You also need to research the market and your competition, define your target audience, and create a unique value proposition (UVP). That’s where a business plan comes in.

This document serves as a roadmap to success, making it easier to accomplish your objectives. It can also help you secure funding, uncover new opportunities, and mitigate risks, such as building a product no one wants. Think of it as an action plan for your business .

Generally, it’s best to write a business plan before launching your venture. So without further ado, here’s how to get started.

Why Does Every Business Need a Business Plan?

A business plan is a living document that outlines each stage of starting and running a company. It highlights your mission and values, as well as your goals and the steps needed to accomplish them.

According to CB Insights , 38% of startups fail because they run out of money. More than one-third go out of business because their products don’t sell, and 20% get outcompeted.

With a business plan, you can anticipate and avoid these pitfalls and increase your chances of success. What’s more, companies that plan experience 30% faster growth and better business performance than those without a plan. 

For example, market research—an essential component of business planning —can help you find the right customers and, hence, increase sales. You may also realize there’s no market for your products, in which case you can step back and chase other opportunities.

Every market and business is unique, and what works for one company may not work for another. A sound business plan will give you clarity and a sense of direction, leading to better decision-making.

What to Include in a Business Plan

There are no hard rules on how to write a business plan. This document can be as short as two or three pages or as long as 12-20 pages and will look different from one company to the next.

No matter its length or format, it should cover the following:

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Products and services
• Unique value proposition
• Short- and long-term goals
• Organization and management
• Market research
• Competitive analysis
• Sales and marketing strategy
• Financial projections
• Funding requirements
• Appendices (additional data, credit histories, etc.)

The executive summary provides a brief overview of your business, its UVP and goals. The company description goes into detail about these aspects and the problem(s) your product or service can solve.

Moving forward, you’ll focus on each aspect of the business, from its positioning in the market to funding requirements.

However, this format isn’t set in stone. For example, a feasibility business plan will focus on one product or service to assess its validity.

By comparison, internal business plans revolve around organizational alignment. An operational plan , on the other hand, defines the steps you need to take on a weekly or daily basis to accomplish your goals.

Use These Tools to Craft a Compelling Business Plan 

Writing a business plan is like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. Each idea leads to the next, filling the gaps to bring your vision to life.

The challenge lies in figuring out where each piece fits in. For example, how does the competitive landscape impact your chances of success? And how does it relate to product pricing, marketing, customer demand, or other aspects?

The right tools can help you make sense of all this data and craft a compelling business plan. Here are our favorite picks.

• Sweet Process

Use this cloud-based documentation tool to gather all your files in one place, create and share policies, or manage tasks effortlessly. Business planning involves extensive paperwork, making it difficult to keep track of everything. With Sweet Process , you can store, organize, and share business documents effortlessly.

Sweet Process also enables users to edit images, print documents, and collaborate with others in real-time. For example, you can add graphs or product videos to your business plan while gathering data from other team members. Once your company is up and running, you can use Sweet Process to document your policies, workflows, and procedures.

• SCORE Business Planning Templates

SCORE offers customizable business plan templates for startups and established companies. Pick one, download it to your computer, and then fill it out with your company’s data. It’s that simple.

Each template contains instructions, real-world examples, and guiding questions. If, say, you’re not sure how to formulate your mission statement, go to that respective section and see the examples provided.

The templates from SCORE also include worksheets, tables, and other helpful tools for planning things out. Plus, they have a user-friendly format and cover just about any aspect you can think of.

Canva isn’t just for design work. It actually offers quite a few tools for starting and running a business, including SWOT analysis templates.

This acronym stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Companies can conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the factors influencing their success. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, whereas opportunities and threats come from the outside.

With Canva, you can generate SWOT charts, brainstorm ideas, and create engaging graphics. Include this information in your business plan to make it more impactful and visually appealing.

• D&B Hoovers

As discussed earlier, any business plan should include a competitive analysis. That means you must gather data on other companies in your industry to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies.

One way to get this information is to use a B2B database. For example, D&B Hoovers provides data on over 500 million companies worldwide, including public, private, and non-profit organizations.

With just a few clicks, you can see a company’s size, number of employees, SEC filings, sales volume, and other figures. This data can help you determine where you stand against your competitors, what they do well, and what you could do better.

LivePlan features over 550 sample business plans and other tools, such as an AI-powered assistant. Users can also get help via live chat or attend webinars for further insights.

The platform is intuitive and easy to use, offering everything you need to write a business plan. Your only job is to bring in data and fill out the templates provided.

Users can choose from two subscription plans at different price points. The premium one includes access to cutting-edge tools for generating “What if” scenarios, making financial forecasts, and setting business milestones.

Write a Business Plan That Drives Results 

Business planning is both an art and a science and often takes months of research. If done right, it can pave your way to success and help you avoid costly mistakes.

For starters, make sure you have access to accurate data. Next, use a business plan template to organize your ideas. Manage your documents with Sweet Process, and turn to a design tool like Canva to create diagrams, graphics, or infographics.

Note that your work doesn’t stop here. Your business plan is a living document, and you’ll need to review and update it as your company grows.

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How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy in 9 Easy Steps [Free Template]

Creating your social media marketing strategy doesn’t need to be painful. Create an effective plan for your business in 9 simple steps.

A social media marketing strategy is a summary of everything you plan to do and hope to achieve on social media. It guides your actions and lets you know whether you’re succeeding or failing.

The more specific your plan is, the more effective it will be. Keep it concise. Don’t make it so lofty and broad that it’s unattainable or impossible to measure.

In this post, we’ll walk you through a nine-step plan to create a winning social media strategy of your own. We’ve even got expert insights from Amanda Wood, Hootsuite’s Senior Manager of Social Marketing.

How to create a social media strategy:

Bonus: Get a free social media strategy template   to quickly and easily plan your own strategy. Also use it to track results and present the plan to your boss, teammates, and clients.

What is a social media marketing strategy?

A social media strategy is a document outlining your social media goals, the tactics you will use to achieve them and the metrics you will track to measure your progress.

Your social media marketing strategy should also list all of your existing and planned social media accounts along with goals specific to each platform you’re active on. These goals should align with your business’s larger digital marketing strategy.

Finally, a good social media plan should define the roles and responsibilities within your team and outline your reporting cadence.

Create. Schedule. Publish. Engage. Measure. Win.

Creating your own social media marketing strategy (video guide)

No time to read the whole article? Let Amanda, Hootsuite’s own Senior Manager of Social Media Marketing, guide you through our free social media marketing strategy template in less than 10 minutes:

How to create a social media marketing strategy in 9 steps

Step 1. choose goals that align to business objectives, set s.m.a.r.t. goals.

The first step to creating a winning social media strategy is to establish clear objectives and goals. Without goals, you have no way to measure success and return on investment (ROI) .

Each of your social media marketing goals should be SMART : s pecific, m easurable, a ttainable, r elevant and t ime-bound.

Psst: Need help getting started? We’ve got social strategy guides for small businesses , financial services , government , higher education , healthcare , real estate , law firms , and non-profits .

Oh, and if you need examples of smart social media goals , we’ve got you covered there too.

Once you’ve decided on your goals, track them in a social media strategy doc — grab our free template if you don’t have one already.

Track meaningful metrics

Vanity metrics like number of followers and likes are easy to track, but it’s hard to prove their real value. Instead, focus on things like engagement, click-through, and conversion rates.

For inspiration, take a look at these 19 essential social media metrics .

You may want to track different goals for different social media networks, or even different uses for each network.

For example, if you use LinkedIn to drive traffic to your website, you would measure click-throughs. If Instagram is for brand awareness, you might track the number of Instagram Story views. And if you advertise on Facebook, cost-per-click (CPC) is a common success metric.

Social media goals should align with your overall marketing objectives. This makes it easier to show the value of your work and secure buy-in from your boss.

Start developing a successful social media marketing plan by writing down at least three goals for social media.

“ It’s easy to get overwhelmed by deciding what to post and which metrics to track, but you need to focus on what you want to get out of social media to begin with,” says Amanda Wood, Hootsuite’s Senior Manager of Social Marketing. “Don’t just start posting and tracking everything: match your goals to your business, and your metrics to your goals.”

Step 2. Learn everything you can about your audience

Get to know your fans, followers, and customers as real people with real wants and needs, and you will know how to target and engage them on social media.

When it comes to your ideal customer, you should know things like:

• Average income
• Typical job title or industry

Here’s a simple guide and template for creating audience/buyer personas .

Don’t forget to document this information in your strategy doc!

Social media analytics can also provide a ton of valuable information about who your followers are, where they live, and how they interact with your brand on social media. These insights allow you to refine your strategy and better target your audience.

Jugnoo, an Uber-like service for auto-rickshaws in India, used Facebook Analytics to learn that 90% of their users who referred other customers were between 18- and 34-years-old, and 65% of that group was using Android. They used that information to target their ads, resulting in a 40% lower cost per referral.

Check out our guide to using social media analytics and the tools you need to track them .

Step 3. Get to know your competition

Odds are your competitors are already using social media, and that means you can learn from what they’re doing.

Conduct a competitive analysis

A competitive analysis allows you to understand who the competition is and what they’re doing well (and not so well). You’ll get a good sense of what’s expected in your industry, which will help you set social media targets of your own.

It will also help you spot opportunities and weaknesses you can document in your social strategy doc.

Maybe one of your competitors is dominant on Facebook, for example, but has put little effort into X (Twitter) or Instagram. You might want to focus on the social media platforms where your audience is underserved, rather than trying to win fans away from a dominant player.

Use social media listening

Social listening is another way to keep an eye on your competitors.

Do searches of the competition’s company name, account handles, and other relevant keywords on social media. Find out what they’re sharing and what other people are saying about them. If they’re using influencer marketing, how much engagement do those campaigns earn them?

Pro tip : Use Hootsuite Streams to monitor relevant keywords, hashtags and accounts in real-time.

Try Hootsuite for free. You can cancel anytime.

As you track, you may notice shifts in how your competitors and industry leaders are using social media. You may come across new, exciting trends. You might even spot specific social content or a campaign that really hits the mark—or totally bombs.

Use this kind of intel to optimize and inform your own social media marketing strategy.

Just don’t go overboard on the spy tactics, Amanda advises. “ Make sure you aren’t ALWAYS comparing yourself to the competition — it can be a distraction. I’d say checking in on a monthly basis is healthy. Otherwise, focus on your own strategy and results.”

Step 4. Do a social media audit

If you’re already using social media, take stock of your efforts so far. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What’s working, and what’s not?
• Who is engaging with you?
• What are your most valuable partnerships?
• Which networks does your target audience use?
• How does your social media presence compare to the competition?

Once you collect that information, you’ll be ready to start thinking about ways to improve.

We’ve created an easy-to-follow social media audit guide and template to walk you through each step of this process.

Your audit should give you a clear picture of what purpose each of your social accounts serves. If the purpose of an account isn’t clear, think about whether it’s worth keeping.

To help you decide, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is my audience here?
• If so, how are they using this platform?
• Can I use this account to help achieve my goals?

Asking these tough questions will keep your social media strategy focused.

Look for impostor accounts

During the audit, you may discover fake accounts using your business name or the names of your products.

These imposters can be harmful to your brand—never mind that they’re capturing followers that should be yours.

You may want to get your accounts verified too to ensure your fans know they are dealing with the real you.

Here’s how to get verified on:

• X (Twitter)

Step 5. Set up accounts and improve profiles

Decide which networks to use.

As you decide which social networks to use, you will also need to define your strategy for each.

Benefit Cosmetics’ social media manager, Angela Purcaro, told eMarketer : “For our makeup tutorials … we’re all about Snapchat and Instagram Stories. [X], on the other hand, is designated for customer service.”

Hootsuite’s own social team even designates different purposes for formats within networks. On Instagram, for example, they use the feed to post high-quality educational infographics and product announcements and Stories to cover live events or quick social media updates.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hootsuite 🦉 (@hootsuite)

Pro tip : Write out a mission statement for each network. A one-sentence declaration to keep you focused on a specific goal.

Example: “We will use X for customer support to keep email and call volumes down.”

Or: “We will use LinkedIn for promoting and sharing our company culture to help with recruitment and employee advocacy.”

One more: “We will use Instagram to highlight new products and repost quality content from influencers.”

If you can’t create a solid mission statement for a particular social media channel, you may want to ask yourself if it’s worth it.

Note : While larger businesses can and do tackle every platform, small businesses may not be able to — and that’s ok! Prioritize social platforms that will have the most impact on your business and make sure your marketing team has the resources to handle content for those networks. If you need help focusing your efforts, check out our 18-minute social media plan .

Set up your profiles

Once you’ve decided which networks to focus on, it’s time to create your profiles. Or improve existing ones so they align with your strategy.

• Make sure you fill out all profile fields
• Include keywords people would use to search for your business
• Use consistent branding (logos, images, etc.) across networks so your profiles are easily recognizable

Pro tip : Use high-quality images that follow the recommended dimensions for each network. Check out our always-up-to-date social media image size cheat sheet for quick reference.

We’ve also got step-by-step guides for each network to walk you through the process:

• Create a Facebook business page
• Create an Instagram business account
• Create a TikTok account
• Create a X (Twitter) business account
• Create a Snapchat account
• Create a LinkedIn Company Page
• Create a Pinterest business account
• Create a YouTube channel

Don’t let this list overwhelm you. Remember, it’s better to use fewer channels well than to stretch yourself thin trying to maintain a presence on every network.

Optimize your profiles (and content) for search

Never heard of social SEO ? It’s time to learn.

44% of Gen Z consumers use social platforms to research their purchase decisions, which means it’s extra critical that your channels are optimized for social search.

That means making sure your profile names are clear and descriptive, you’re including relevant hashtags and keywords in your bio and on every post, and you’re using features like alt text and captions to include your target keywords as naturally as possible.

Step 6. Find inspiration

While it’s important that your brand be unique, you can still draw inspiration from other businesses that are great on social.

“ I consider it my job to stay active on social: to know what’s trending, which campaigns are winning, what’s new with the platforms, who’s going above and beyond,” says Amanda. “This might be the most fun step for you, or the hardest one, but it’s just as crucial as the rest of them.”

Social media success stories

You can usually find these on the business section of the social network’s website. ( Here’s Facebook’s , for example.)

Case studies can offer valuable insights that you can apply to your own social media plan.

Award-winning accounts and campaigns

You could also check out the winners of The Facebook Awards or The Shorty Awards for examples of brands that are at the top of their social media game.

For learning and a laugh, check out Fridge-Worthy, Hootsuite’s bi-weekly awards show highlighting brands doing smart and clever things on social media.

Your favorite brands on social media

Who do you enjoy following on social media? What do they do that compels people to engage and share their content?

National Geographic, for example, is one of the best on Instagram, combining stunning visuals with compelling captions.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo)

Then there’s Shopify. The ecommerce brand uses Facebook to sell themselves by showcasing customer stories and case studies.

And Lush Cosmetics is a great example of superior customer service on X. They use their 280 characters to answer questions and solve problems in an extremely charming and on-brand way.

Source: lushcosmetics on X

Notice that each of these accounts has a consistent voice, tone, and style. That’s key to letting people know what to expect from your feed. That is, why should they follow you? What’s in it for them?

Consistency also helps keep your content on-brand even if you have multiple people on your social media team.

For more on this, read our guide on establishing a compelling brand voice on social media .

Ask your followers

Consumers can also offer social media inspiration.

What are your target customers talking about online? What can you learn about their wants and needs?

If you have existing social channels, you could also ask your followers what they want from you. Just make sure that you follow through and deliver what they ask for.

Step 7. Create a social media content calendar

Sharing great content is essential, of course, but it’s equally important to have a plan in place for when you’ll share content to get the maximum impact.

Your social media content calendar also needs to account for the time you spend interacting with the audience (although you need to allow for some spontaneous engagement as well).

Set your posting schedule

Your social media content calendar lists the dates and times at which you will publish types of content on each channel. It’s the perfect place to plan all of your social media activities—from images, link sharing, and re-shares of user-generated content to blog posts and videos. It includes both your day-to-day posting and content for social media campaigns.

Your calendar also ensures your posts are spaced out appropriately and published at the best times to post .

Pro tip: You can plan your whole content calendar and get recommended best times to post on every network based on your past engagement rate, impressions, or link click data in Hootsuite.

Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature

Determine the right content mix

Make sure your content strategy and calendar reflect the mission statement you’ve assigned to each social profile, so that everything you post is working to support your business goals.

(We know, it’s tempting to jump on every meme, but there should always be a strategy behind your social media marketing efforts!)

You might decide that:

• 50% of content will drive traffic back to your website
• 25% of content will be curated from other sources
• 20% of content will support lead-generation goals (newsletter sign-ups, ebook downloads, etc.)
• 5% of content will be about your company culture

Placing these different post types in your content calendar will ensure you maintain the right mix.

If you’re starting from scratch and you’re not sure what types of content to post, try the 80-20 rule :

• 80% of your posts should inform, educate, or entertain your audience
• 20% can directly promote your brand.

You could also try the social media content marketing rule of thirds :

• One-third of your content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit.
• One-third of your content shares ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded businesses.
• One-third of your content is personal interactions with your audience

Whatever you decide on, be sure to document it in your strategy doc.

Don’t post too much or too little

If you’re starting a social media marketing strategy from scratch, you may not have figured out how often to post to each network for maximum engagement yet.

Post too frequently and you risk annoying your audience. But, if you post too little, you risk looking like you’re not worth following.

Start with these posting frequency recommendations:

• Instagram (feed): 3-7 times per week
• TikTok: 3-5 times per week
• Facebook: 1-2 times per day
• X (Twitter): 1-5 times per day
• LinkedIn: 1-5 times per day

Pro tip : Once you have your social media content calendar planned out, use a scheduling tool to prepare messages in advance rather than updating constantly throughout the day.

We might be biased, but we think Hootsuite is the best social media management tool. You can schedule social media posts to every network and the intuitive calendar view gives you a full picture of all your social activity each week.

Try It Free

Step 8. Create compelling content

Remember those mission statements you created for each channel in Step 5? Well, it’s time to go a bit deeper, a.k.a. provide some examples of the type of content you’ll post to fulfill your mission on each network.

If you’re not sure what to post, here’s a long list of social media content ideas to get you started. Or (to make it even easier) you can use an AI tool like OwlyWriter to generate on-brand content in a flash.

The idea here is to:

• Keep your content aligned with the purpose of each network;
• Show other stakeholders (if applicable) what kind of content they can expect to see on each network.

This last point especially will help you avoid any tension when your colleagues want to know why you haven’t posted their case study/whitepaper/blog post to TikTok yet. It’s not in the strategy, Linda!

Ideally, you will generate content types that are both suited to the network and the purpose you’ve set out for that network.

For example, you wouldn’t want to waste time posting brand awareness tweets if you’ve designated X/Twitter for primarily customer support. And you wouldn’t want to post super polished corporate video ads to TikTok, as users expect to see short, unpolished videos on that platform.

It might take some testing over time to figure out which type of content works best on which type of network, so prepare to update this section frequently.

We won’t lie: content creation isn’t as easy as everyone not on the social team seems to think. But if you’re struggling, Amanda suggests going back to basics.

The first question to ask is: is there cohesion between your content types? Is your content providing value? Do you have a good mix of entertaining, or educational content? What does it offer that makes a person stop and spend time? Creating a few different content pillars or categories that encompass different aspects of storytelling for your brand, and what you can offer your audience is a good start.

This brings us to Step 9.

Step 9. Track performance and make adjustments

Your social media marketing strategy is a hugely important document for your business, and you can’t assume you’ll get it exactly right on the first try.

As you start to implement your plan and track your results, you may find that some strategies don’t work as well as you’d anticipated, while others are working even better than expected.

That’s why it’s important to document your progress along the way.

Look at performance metrics

In addition to the analytics within each social network (see Step 2), you can use UTM parameters to track social visitors as they move through your website, so you can see exactly which social posts drive the most traffic to your website.

Benchmark your results

You’ve got your numbers, but how do they stack up to the competition in your industry? Industry benchmarks are a great way to evaluate your performance against other businesses in your category.

If you’ve got Hootsuite Analytics , you can use our built-in social media benchmarking tool to compare the performance of your social accounts against the average of brands in your industry with just a couple of clicks.

You can set up custom timeframes, switch between networks — Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and TikTok — and look up benchmarks for metrics like followers, audience growth rate, engagement rate, clicks, shares, and much more.

You’ll also find resources to improve your performance  right in the summary section:

Re-evaluate, test, and do it all again

Once this data starts coming in, use it to re-evaluate your strategy regularly. You can also use this information to test different posts, social marketing campaigns, and strategies against one another. Constant testing allows you to understand what works and what doesn’t, so you can refine your social media marketing strategy in real time.

You’ll want to check the performance of all your channels at least once a week and get to know the basics of social media reporting so you can track your growth over time.

Pro tip: If you use Hootsuite, you can review the performance of all your posts on every network in one place. Once you get the hang of checking your analytics, you may even want to customize different reports to show specific metrics over a variety of different time periods.

Surveys can also be a great way to find out how well your social media strategy is working. Ask your followers, email list, and website visitors whether you’re meeting their needs and expectations, and what they’d like to see more of. Then make sure to deliver on what they tell you.

Finalizing your social media strategy

Spoiler alert: nothing is final.

Social media moves fast. New networks emerge, others go through demographic shifts.

Your business will go through periods of change as well.

All of this means that your social media marketing strategy should be a living document that you review and adjust as needed. Refer to it often to stay on track, but don’t be afraid to make changes so that it better reflects new goals, tools, or plans.

When you update your social strategy, make sure to watch our 5-step video on how to updating your social media strategy for 2024:

Social media strategy template

Ready to start documenting? Grab your free social media strategy template below!

What’s next? When you’re ready to put your plan into action, we’re here to help…

Save time managing your social media marketing strategy with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can easily:

• Plan, create, and schedule posts to every network
• Track relevant keywords, topics, and accounts
• Stay on top of engagement with a universal inbox
• Get easy-to-understand performance reports and improve your strategy as needed

Try Hootsuite for Free

With files from Shannon Tien .

Do it better with Hootsuite , the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.

Become a better social marketer.

Get expert social media advice delivered straight to your inbox.

Christina Newberry is an award-winning writer and editor whose greatest passions include food, travel, urban gardening, and the Oxford comma—not necessarily in that order.

Amanda Wood is a senior social marketing professional who combines analytical and creative thinking to build brands.

As head of social at Hootsuite, Amanda oversees the global social strategy encompassing organic and paid social on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn, a social engagement and listening strategy, and an employee advocacy program.

As the leader of a high-performing social team, she has extensive experience collaborating with creatives to bring campaigns to life on social and drive business results.

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Last Updated: 04/19/2024

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