When you start writing, your business plans there are two different formats that you can choose from. The first format is the written format, which once was quite popular, but because of how much we rely on email, it has become almost outdated. The second format is called the power point presentation, and is now the most popular format to use when writing a business plan because of how easily it can be forwarded and shared with people who are interested in viewing your business plan. Regardless of which format you choose for your business plan, you are going to want to include some key components.

The first thing that you are going to need is a cover page, which seems rather obvious; however, you would be surprised at how many people fail to include a cover page. The cover page should include information such as the name of your company, the address, phone number, and the owner's name or chief executives name. If you plan on handing out your business plan to numerous investors or bankers be sure to number each plan prominently on the cover page to help you keep track of who has the plans and what their answers were.

The second thing that you are going to need to include is a table of contents, which provides the reader with information on what is included in the business plan and what order the information is provided. You should also include page numbers of where the investor or banker can find the information, but make sure that you remember to number your pages in the business plan, otherwise the page numbers will not be very helpful.

The next section is going to be your executive summary, which is the main part of your business plan. In this section, you are going to want to talk about what your business plans on doing, what kind of financing your plan on using and how much financing your home business will needs. You also want to include your company's vision statement, where you want to go, and how your business plans to get there.
The section about the company needs to include information about the company's past, present and future. Now if your small or home business is just starting you are not going to be able to include information about your company's past so instead you will need to include information about the evolution of the market and your products concept. You should also include information about what your businesses goals are and how you plan to achieve those goals.

The market section is where you are going to provide information on what customer groups you have targeted, what other customer groups you are considering pursuing, how you have marketed your product, any market testing that you have done, and any information that you have obtained about your competitors and how you are going to compete with them.

The next section is going to be about the product or service that your company is offering. You are going to want to include what it is, how it is special, what the components are, how much you are going to charge, what kind of warranty you offer, and any other information that is important to the product or service that you are offering.

In the sales and promotion area, you are going to want include all information related to how you plan on selling and promoting your product, whether you are going to have a website or use a store, and how you are going to reach your customers. You should also include information about the kind of public relations that you will be using to promote your product or service, such as telemarketers, direct mailings, and if you will be doing it yourself or hiring a public relations firm.

The last section that you are going to have in your business plan is the finances section. Here you are going to want to talk about how you plan to make money, but you are also going to want to talk about what you are going to be doing with the money that your company is making. You want to make sure that you include cash flow projections, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, income statements, etc.