The first thing you must understand before writing your business plan is that your plan is a marketing document. It is not a 50-page dossier explaining everything there is to know about your business.

This guide explains what an executive summary is and offers writing tips so your business plan starts out strong. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners ...

Unless you plan to seek financing from a bank or private investors, your bakery business plan as a finished product is actually less important than the process of writing it. Writing the plan forces ...

For many academics, summer is traditionally associated with open stretches of time and ambitious writing agendas. Many of us put off writing articles and book proposals during the year in anticipation ...

Learn how to write a compelling marketing plan executive summary with expert tips, essential components and a template to ...

The marketing plan is an essential element in any business's long-term success. The marketing plan helps to shape the needs and objectives of the company by identifying what, how, when and so forth ...

Regardless of whether you’re looking to start, grow or sell a business in 2018, don’t use a business plan template. Your plan should reflect your unique focus. The best business plans, according to ...

Are you preparing to start your own business but uncertain about how to get started? A business plan ought to be one of the first steps in your entrepreneurial journey because it will organize the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about the franchising, restaurant and food services industry. An executive summary is a short but powerful document that ...

A business plan is a concept that many startups think is either unnecessary or just a nice-to-have. It's often seen as an annoying extra bit of admin that's simply keeping you away from the fun of ...