What simple steps can you take to start developing your business plan? What are the key sections that you need to think about and have clearly defined? Here is a brief overview of the content of the plan, courtesy of my bank, Westpac Banking Australia.

The Executive Summary – The highlights of your plan

Location and History of Business, Facilities and Equipment; Legal Structure; Insurances – This section describes the legal entity and ownership structure and gives an overview of start-up costs and initial funding.

Products and Services – Describe the products or services you offer. Emphasise why buyers purchase those and what benefits they get. Show how much it costs to deliver what you’re selling.

The Industry and Market Analysis – Describes your target market and the segment you will focus on, including market demographics, market growth, trends and forecast. Describes the nature of your industry and your competition.

Strategies, Mission, Objectives and Milestones; Marketing Strategies, Advertising and Promotion; Sales forecast and cost of sales; Distribution, Plans for Growth – Define your milestones with dates, budgets and specific responsibilities.

Management Structure and Staff Positions – Name and describe the key members on your team. List management team gaps, if any, and show how they’re being addressed.

Financials – detail financial plan and needs summary, sales forecasts; assumptions; annual income and expenditure; profit and loss statement (P&L); cash flow statement; balance sheet.

Information Systems and Controls - What style of technology will you use, who has access to marketing programs, who is the administrator, etc.

I am going to give you links to various business websites that have sample templates. These include government agencies from English speaking countries, banking institutions and one surprise template. The Australian Government template makes a fascinating point in writing the summary that I have listed above -

The summary should be the last thing written even though it is found on the opening pages. Once you have details of each section, you can then trim that down to a brief summary which then appears early in the business plan.

Feeling a touch overwhelmed by all of the above? Hang in there with me on it because with the following templates, you are going to have the task made easier. Remember that this is information above is the overview page. Some of it won't apply to your business but the key principles could be very helpful.

Page 3 gives you some sample pages to read and analyze. This will get your creative juices flowing. And you will find a number of links to finding workable business plan templates.