Free Business Plan Template and Tips

A business plan is the bridge between a product idea and a business. It’s not magic: Following a business plan template to craft a blueprint for your company is an intentional process. It spells out how your company will work, proves your potential in the market, and identifies a clear path to achieve your goals.

A 2025 academic literature review from Kyoto University concluded that business planning is effective, and that companies with well-structured business plans tend to achieve higher rates of long-term survival, sustainability, and profitability.

In this article, you’ll learn more about the importance of a business plan, discover the key components of a traditional business plan, gain access to a free business plan template, and read expert advice from fellow entrepreneurs. 

What is a business plan?

A business plan outlines your company’s objectives, and details the strategies you’ll use to achieve them. A business plan typically includes an executive summary, company overview, description of products, market analysis, marketing plan, logistics and operations plan, and financial plan.

Many companies create business plans for the purpose of securing funding, but it’s a worthy exercise even if you’re a solopreneur or very small business with no need for external funding. 

For example, Fiona Parfrey, cofounder of period care company Riley, had to create a business plan to apply for grants from the government. But she found the exercise especially relevant to internal alignment. 

“I think it’s a really useful exercise to do, especially if you’ve got cofounders, to make sure that you’re all aligned, and that you all agree on the strategy,” Fiona says. 

For Jeff Segal, founding partner of wine businessDomestique, the process is about opportunity sizing. “I learned early on that the numbers don’t lie,” Jeff says. 

“It’s easy to get excited about a business idea, but then look at the underlying math of it and realize it doesn’t work. So it’s really important to get numbers down as soon as possible, and see if they make sense.”

Tips for filling out a business plan template 

• Don’t get bogged down trying to create the perfect plan
• Expect it to be a living document and process
• Seek help from professionals

If the scope and the purpose of a business plan leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed about starting, you’re not alone. Here’s some advice from successful founders to help motivate you to begin and execute it well:

Don’t get bogged down trying to create the perfect plan

Your business plan is important, but don’t let that importance paralyze you into failing to start … or finish. 

“It’s easy for founders to get bogged down trying to write the perfect 5- or 10-year business plan,” says Gaby Bayona, founder of bridal brands including Truvelle. 

“But when you spend lots of time crafting a rigid plan you become too attached to it,” she says, “leaving you inflexible and resistant to the pivots you’ll inevitably need to make.”

“A lot of people focus on having their business plan be perfect, but the fact is, you don’t know how things will progress,” Gaby says on an episode of Shopify Masters. “My biggest tip is: Just start it.” 

In fact, the research cited in the Kyoto University study found that “spending more than three months on creating a formal business plan decreases survival rates.” 

Some planning is beneficial, but the best outcomes happen when you plan effectively and move to execution; excessive time spent planning can become counterproductive.

Michelle Shemilt, founder of sweat-proof undergarments company Numi, recommends that founders also remember they’ll learn by doing. She believes your best business plan is understanding your niche and getting to market quickly, so you can validate your business model and improve based on real feedback. 

“You don’t need to spend three years on your business plan,” Michelle says on an episode of Shopify Masters. “Getting into the market and learning and iterating is going to be the most important thing, because you can get stuck in that planning phase and then you’re never going to take action.”

Expect it to be a living document and process

Yes, it’s called a business “plan,” but that word can conjure something finite and static. A business plan is an ongoing process: a living document that you can return to, update, and change as your company evolves. It’s another reason your initial business plan doesn’t need to be perfect.

“You have to approach it as an alive, ever-changing thing,” says Fiona Parfrey, cofounder of period care and women’s health company Riley. “Especially if you want to move really quickly and be agile, it’s really important to see it as something that doesn’t define the business [forever].”

The process of writing the initial plan and updating it over time can both be time well spent, even if you end up changing it quickly. 

Evan Quinn, cofounder and CEO of nonalcoholic beverage brand Hiyo, says the plan he wrote with his cofounders in business school is no longer applicable today. But it was a highly worthy exercise critical to Hiyo’s success.

“We wrote a 90-page business plan, and if you asked me do we use any of that today, I’d probably tell you, not a whole lot,” Evan says. “It’s definitely pivoted between now and then, but the exercise of being so thorough is part of what’s helped us grow tremendously. 

“In the early days we were in hyper-growth mode and I attribute that to the thoughtfulness that went into the launch plan and the business plan in general. It really sets you up for success right out of the gate.”

Seek help from professionals

You don’t need to go it alone when putting together a business plan. Seek formal or informal advice from fellow entrepreneurs, business coaches, financial experts, advisers, mentors, and industry veterans. 

Jeff from Domestique routinely engages a chief financial officer to review his projects and run financial scenarios.

“He’s a really strong finance professional, and he’s helped me a number of times: I’ll send him a business plan, and we’ll dig into it together and spend hours going through all the assumptions in it. I love that exercise,” Jeff says.

What should a business plan include?

• Executive summary
• Company overview
• Products or services offered
• Market analysis
• Marketing plan
• Logistics and operations plan
• Financial plan

Whether your business is small or large, selling software or vintage goods, and bootstrapping or seeking outside funding, the core parts of a successful business plan generally remain the same. 

Here are the sections and details to include: 

Executive summary

The executive summary is a high-level overview of what’s to come in your business plan (so you might want to come back and write this section last). 

Executive summaries are your first chance to grab the attention of your readers. A good summary tells a concise and compelling story, clearly laying out the problem in the market and demonstrating why your company is well positioned to solve it. 

Here are the specific points to include when writing an executive summary:

• Product overview: Provide a brief explanation of what you’re selling. 
• Target market: Explain to whom, exactly, you’ll sell your products. 
• Competitive advantage: Show what your company has that competitors don’t. 
• Leadership structure: Introduce readers to the people who run your company. 
• Mission statement: Detail the purpose of your company and why it exists. 
• High-level financial and growth plans: Give an overview of your current sales and profits, financial projections, the amount of funding you hope to receive, and how you expect your company to grow.

Company overview

The company overview section provides further detail about your business concept, explaining who you are, what you plan to do, and what you hope ultimately to achieve. 

Overviews may include elements like:

• Business name (and any backstory on the name, if applicable)
• Business concept, operating model, and industry
• Competitive advantage
• Mission and/or vision statement and brand values
• Location(s) where you do business, including headquarters, retail locations, and where you’ll sell or distribute 
• Legal structure
• Organizational structure including leadership, management, and employees
• Business objectives for both the short term (one year) and long term (the next one to five years)

Products or services offered

Here, you’ll describe in detail what you plan to sell. List your products’ most important features and benefits, highlighting their differentiators or improvements compared to competitors. 

Share information about your pricing model, demonstrating why your pricing strategy is appropriate given market trends, customer preferences, your business costs, and your company’s goals. 

Note: If your prices are higher than your competitors’, you may want to justify that difference by listing the specific costs and product benefits that elevate the prices. 

Include your plans to protect your intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights, if applicable.

Market analysis

A market analysis is a study of the factors impacting the market for a particular product or service, such as industry trends, customer preferences, and competitor behavior. 

Market analysis helps businesses make informed decisions, identify opportunities, and develop effective marketing strategies. 

This section includes:

• Industry outlook: Use market research to highlight industry-wide trends and growth potential.
• Target audience: Pull data from that market research and tools like Shopify Analytics to validate demand, product-market fit, and describe your target customer, including demographics, purchasing habits, and decision-drivers.
• Competitive analysis: Identify your competitors and study their products, pricing, marketing strategies, distribution channels, and customer base to identify their strengths and weaknesses. 
• SWOT analysis: List your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Marketing plan

A marketing plan details the strategies your business will use to get your products or services in front of your target customers. It also includes the marketing channels you’ll use to reach these consumers, and the messaging that will persuade them to become customers. 

Here’s what to include:

• Product positioning: Concisely explain how you want your target market to think and feel about your offerings.
• Brand messaging: Describe the language and unique selling proposition (USP) you’ll use to market your products. 
• Acquisition channels and tactics: Share where and how you’ll attract new potential customers. You might target channels like content marketing, email marketing, social media, and paid advertising.
• Marketing tools: List the technologies you’ll use to execute your marketing strategy, like social media management tools, Shopify Forms, and Shopify Messaging.
• Goals and metrics: Set milestones you plan to reach and how you’ll define marketing success.

Logistics and operations plan

Logistics and operations plans include details about your business’s supply chain, inventory management, production and manufacturing, distribution, customer service, and more. 

Here’s what to include in your logistics and operations plan:

• Suppliers and manufacturers: Identify where and how you’ll obtain raw materials, and who will manufacture your final products. 
• Production: Detail the technologies and processes involved in making your products.
• Inventory management: Explain how you will manage your inventory, and who will perform this task. You might store your inventory in your own warehouse, outsource storage to a fulfillment partner, use a dropshipping model, and/or implement custom automations like Shopify Flow.
• Shipping: Will you ship your products from your warehouses, use tools like Shopify Shipping, or engage a third-party fulfillment partner? Include information about any special shipping needs, like extra packaging for delicate products.

Financial plan

A financial plan is a document outlining income, expenses, and cash flow. It also explains how your company will generate revenue and manage costs, and it proves your financial stability, market potential, growth projections, and ability to manage finances.

When building your revenue model, start by outlining your assumptions: 

• How many site visitors will you get per month? 
• If you have retail locations, how many people per day will walk by your location? What percentage will enter your shop? 
• Of those who visit your online or in-person shop, how many will convert to purchasing something? 
• How many items will they buy, and what’s the average value of a first purchase? 
• Is your audience budget-conscious, preferring one-time purchases (sales)? Or do they value ongoing access to your service (membership)? 

You’ll also need to map your costs, including staffing, technology, suppliers, a website and ecommerce platform, and more. Overestimate these a bit, as costs can frequently be higher than you predict.

If your business is new, you’ll outline the business capital you have and your projected income and expenses. Include a short-term projection for the first year that’s broken down by month and potentially by quarter, and a long-term financial projection that looks ahead to the five-year mark. Depending on your business and market, you may need to assume seasonal peaks and valleys.

If you’ve been in business for a while and you’re updating your business plan for investors or lenders, include your financial statements including your balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement.