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Write Your Business Plan | Part 1 Overview Video Watch this video to get started on turning your great idea into a plan for success.

By Dan Bova

This is part 1 / 12 of Write Your Business Plan: Section 1: The Foundation of a Business Plan series.

Wondering if it is time to write your business plan ? If you are watching this, then the answer is yes.

Simply put, having a business plan is going to help you organize your thoughts on what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. Your plan may change as you launch and grow — in fact it almost definitely will — but writing one now is going to give a great building block to get you started, and to help potential investors understand your vision.

So what goes in a business plan? While they can vary greatly in length and detail, any solid plan will have these elements:

Your basic business concept. What is your product or service and how it will fit into customers' lives?
Your sales strategy. What goals do you have for your business? And how do you plan on reaching them?
Your competitive advantages. What sets you apart? Why will customers want to purchase products and services from you and not your competitors?
The markets you'll pursue. Who will your customers be? How will you attract and retain them?
Your management team and key employees . Who are the people involved and what do they bring to the table for this specific business?
Your financing needs. What will you need to launch and sustain the business in its startup phase?

Concise and clear answers to these questions are going to help you, your team and potential investors all stay on the same page.

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History , Car and Driver's Trivia Zone , Road & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars , The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff , and Wendell the Werewolf .

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

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