sample business plan for writers

How to create a business plan for writers

Business plans for writers are valuable documents for setting, tracking and learning from goals and strategies for selling books. Read 9 steps for developing a thorough plan.

• Post author By Jordan
• 9 Comments on How to create a business plan for writers

The business of writing has as many moving parts as writing craft. This brief guide on how to create a business plan for writers will help you take steps to plan and adhere to SMART writing goals while keeping the business of writing (selling books and marketing your novels or non-fiction) firmly in mind.

What is a business plan for writers?

If you’ve ever watched a reality show about business investment such as the UK show Dragon’s Den (aired as Shark Tank in the US), you’ll know that start-ups that win big backing have one thing in common: a clear plan .

A classic business plan is:

• A comprehensive document stating future business objectives plus strategies for achieving them
• A guide to each stage of starting and/or managing a business over a future term used to record goals (and stay on track or rein in scope)
• A reference document to use towards measuring outcomes (for example, whether or not the goals in the plan were met, the strategies used, and how effective they were)

A good business plan goes hand in hand with other essentials: Knowing your niche, your value, and your target market . Make forming one an integral part of your story planning process .

Standard business plans vs business plans for writers

A business plan for writers differs from the type of plan a start-up would use to pitch investors:

• If you are an indie author (or hoping to become one), there will be less emphasis on proving your business case (its commercial viability). Your plan won’t need to convince investors to part with their cash in exchange for specific forecast returns (ROI)
• Your plan will feature aspects that are highly specific to the business of writing (such as book cover design and costs, editing, and other professional writing overheads)

Let’s explore 9 steps for building a business plan for a book or series:

9 steps to create a kickass writing plan for your business:

• Begin building your platform and audience.
• Brainstorm business-phase-specific writing goals.
• Prioritize goals by need, not wish.
• Create a living writing business plan.
• Itemize your planned expenses.
• Calculate what you need to sell to break even.
• Explore and choose strategies for selling.
• Create a compelling showcase for your brand.
• Measure results and adjust as you go.

Begin building your platform and audience

Why does building a platform/audience come first? Because it’s never too early to start connecting with others who may value, enjoy, and be willing to pay to further enjoy your voice.

Ways to build your writing platform:

• Create an author site that will be home to your future publications. To keep costs down you can use an all-in-one website design and hosting service such as Wix . Keep in mind that using designers and developers provides even more customization potential and design/functionality freedom, but may cost more.
• Blog about topics relevant to potential readers in your target audience.
• Create author pages on social media for sharing writing snippets, promo and news.
• Build a newsletter for your author site and offer giveaways (such as short stories or guides).
• Host or co-host webinars or lives on social media with other writers.

These are just some ideas.

Indie publishing expert Joanna Penn raises an important platform – building caveat . If you are in the early stages of writing a book, the types of platform available to you (and what is most popular with netizens) may have changed a lot by the time your book is out . (TikTok, for example, now hugely popular, was only started in 2016.)

Penn’s advice is to at least have a simple website with some form of email-gathering function. Email remains an effective way to spread the word about your newest and existing releases.

Brainstorm business-phase-specific writing goals

The first, proper step of creating a business plan for writers is to brainstorm goals specific to the phase of writing you’re in .

For example, if you’re working on your debut novel and are not yet published (traditionally or independently), your goals will likely look substantially different to a so-called ‘Midlist Author’ (an author who publishes consistently profitable books, but is not yet a publishing sensation landing seven-figure deals).

For midlist to top-tier authors, goals often focus on expansion oriented tasks such as speaking engagements or tapping new audiences by branching out into other genres or subgenres (for example, the way She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named moved into writing thrillers as Robert Galbraith after her fantasy success). Now Novel writing coach Romy Sommer discusses tailoring strategy to your professional phase in our writing webinar on building a writing career.

Examples of goals specific to the current phase of your professional writing life might be:

• Finding and hiring a fiction editor for a recently completed draft
• Shortlisting agents open for queries who are interested in your genre and/or subject matter niche
• Creating a website that will provide a showcase and selling tool for your future publications

FINISH YOUR BOOK IN 6 MONTHS

Stay accountable, in a structured program with writing sprints, coach Q&As, webinars and feedback in an intimate writing group.

Prioritize goals by need, not wish

Once you’ve brainstormed a list of specific goals that may be relevant to your writing business plan, it’s time to finesse these down to the most important, SMART goals.

SMART goals are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based.

Prioritize goals by their relevance to tangible objectives. For example, formatting your book for X platform by Y date.

These are more practical than ‘nice to haves’ that have hard-to-predict impact on finances. For example, ‘becoming a bestseller’ – a ‘bestseller’ after all may mean radically different sales numbers in different countries or genres.

Examples of SMART business plan goals for writers

‘Research and write a list of ten agents currently open to queries in my genre/subject matter and start querying next Monday’ is a SMART goal.

It’s relevant to a specific business phase (having a manuscript to publish, in this example, traditionally). It’s attainable, actionable, and time-based .

‘Become a bestselling author’ is not (there are too many variables and moving parts; it lacks specificity). This is not to say that big dreams are invalid or not worth holding! But … they’re the driving, desiring force behind a good business plan, not the main content.

What do you need to do most urgently to get to a point where you have books to sell to an audience that’s dying to read them?

Angela Ackerman, in a helpful article for Jane Friedman’s publishing blog on the first steps in creating a writing business plans, says:

Sometimes desire (wanting to be published right now, for example) can get in the way of what we actually need (to hone our craft further). To be objective, set emotion aside. Ask yourself hard questions about what your career really needs. Angela Ackerman, in ‘The 7-Step Business Plan for Writers’, via Jane Friedman’s blog.

Create a living writing business plan

So you’ve prioritized goals for the next six months to a year ahead. You’ve made sure they’re SMART and tailored to where you’re at now. The next step is to create a living business plan for your writing.

Why a ‘living’ plan? There are times in any strategic process such as selling your work where you may want to reflect on how things are going, what’s working, and what isn’t, and regroup.

Begin your plan with a mission statement. Try to keep this to a sentence or two at most. For example:

‘Hire a cover designer, editors and formatting professional for my urban fantasy debut, create author profiles on Goodreads, Amazon and Wattpad, and self-publish my book by next June.’

Create a checklist of action items or ‘jobs to be done’ for your plan, prioritized by urgency. The satisfaction of ticking off checklist items is great motivation.

Itemize your planned expenses

Whether you want to sell enough books in a year’s trade to quit your day job or just see how many copies you can sell if you are systematic, it’s important to tracks costs vs returns.

For example, for a typical 80,000 word genre fiction debut, you might create a table in your business plan that looks something like this:

Cover design and editing are essential if you want your book to stand out, and to do the utmost to win over first-time readers.

As in the table above, you may have expenses such as website hosting and design requiring further research, because there are just so many options. The same goes for turning your manuscript into an audiobook .

The promo spend of $150 above is based on the minimum daily spend for Instagram ads being $5 (assuming, for this example, that you wanted to pay to promote your indie book to a niche reader audience matching your genre on Instagram for 30 days).

The above example of costs is a rough example, of course. You may well find cover designers whose services cost less than a lower- mid-priced professional who has more experience. Ditto for editing (remember the caveat though: ‘You get what you pay for’). Having a good estimate of costs for your business plan (and replacing these with hard figures as quotes come in and you choose which to accept) will help you budget and work out what you need to sell to break even:

Calculate what you need to sell to break even

Going off the above table (which does only include copy-editing, and not a manuscript evaluation , developmental editing or proofreading, and leaves out other costs such as print copies), you would need to sell 2182 digital copies of your book at a promo price of $0.99 to earn back your (known) expenses, or 1086 copies at a launch/promo price of $1.99 per copy ($2160 of known expenses divided by your selling price and rounded up).

Having this figure is vital as it gives you an exact target for sales, as well as an idea of the sweet spot for promo pricing to at least recoup your expenses in the first push.

Will you sell your book cheaply to start for the sake of a lower barrier to entry for potential readers with whom you have not yet proven your entertainment value?

This is a particularly helpful strategy for selling a new series, as you can up your pricing for sequels.

As part of working out selling price and launch strategies, read publishing experts’ blogs and thoughts on the matter. Joanna Penn has a helpful article on the benefits of selling with platform exclusivity versus ‘going wide’ (selling on multiple platforms), for example.

Explore and choose strategies for selling

There are many platforms, models and strategies for selling your stories.

Long gone are the days of book chains, indie stores and physical libraries being the main way to find your favorite stories.

The mix of in-store and digital gives you many ways to promote your writing and find an audience that may be hungry for the exact themes, topics, and experiences your work explores.

Some selling strategies to explore and choose from to add to your growing business plan include:

• Platform-specific promo services (such as KDP Select , Amazon’s promotional program for authors willing to sign over exclusive publishing rights to their platform for 90 days)
• Book blog tours and giveaways (partnering with writing sites that have blogs to talk about your book – for example, we interview members who have new releases to share here on Now Novel)

If your marketing knowledge and experience is scant, it may be worth taking a book marketing course (remember to add this to the expenses portion of your writing business plan). Coursera is a fantastic resource for university-run short learning courses, and may help you grasp marketing fundamentals or how to use tools for understanding how to convert website visitors into customers/readers.

Create a compelling showcase for your brand

Many artists and writers are allergic to marketing terms such as ‘brand’. They tend to sound clinical, the kind of buzzwords that people throw out a mile a minute at conferences.

Yet branding is a helpful concept to think about as you create your writing business plan.

What is an author’s brand?

If you look at a major brand such as Nike’s advertising, a specific ‘brand persona’ becomes clear. Nike is all about the ‘mentor/coach’ archetype (from their slogan ‘Just Do It’ to their visual choices such as the tick-like swoosh logo), their brand is all about helping the customer reach their own potential.

An author brand differs in several ways (authors don’t have catchphrases or slogans, of course). Yet having a clear author brand can (like Nike) differentiate what is unique and wonderful about your work in a crowded bookshelf or marketplace. From cover design choices to titling, how you represent your work infers a certain tone and persona. In the podcast with Joanna Penn mentioned above, Penn shares that she’s interested in the spooky and how she shares pictures of eerie environs because she knows these appeal to a certain type of reader who would fall within her target audience – that’s a branding decision.

Ways to build showcasing your brand into your writing business plan

• Plan the language and tone of your newsletter and social media posts. If you write cozy mysteries, for example, what cozy language or mystery can you carry over into what you share?
• Plan how you’ll incorporate the emotion your writing intends to stir in readers into your visual design language , on your author site and social media. If you write bloodcurdling, violent fantasy, what color, typographical and other design choices will communicate what your writing is all about?
• Think about what types of promotions you could run that are on-brand . An author who writes ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ books like Goosebumps titles in this format could run a book giveaway contest where readers combine given elements to create their own flash fiction, for example, for a book giveaway.
• Create a calendar of images, quotes and videos to share that m atch the tone, mood, spirit and/or subjects of your stories.

Measure results and adjust as you go

In any business, it helps to be agile, able to pivot fast to let go of strategies not working or embrace newer methods or platforms that are well-aligned to your goals.

Make your business plan a living document that you review regularly and adjust as needed so that you factor in assessing, learning what worked and what didn’t, and coming back stronger.

Looking for professional fiction editing services or a writing coach to guide you through each stage of writing and querying? Now Novel offers companionship and a supportive network, every step of the way.

Further resources

Rick Lite has a helpful guide for IngramSpark for creating a book promo timeline.

Zara Altair at ProWritingAid provides helpful questions to ask in deciding your book’s value and price .

Are you making regular earnings on your books? What’s the one tip you’d give another writer on going pro? Let us know down below.

Related Posts:

• 10 useful apps for writers to help you create
• How to plan a story in scenes: 5 steps
• What is a plot point? Find and plan clear story events
• Tags book marketing , writing business , writing process

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

9 replies on “How to create a business plan for writers”

Extremely helpful! Thank you, Jordan.

Hi Allorianna, thank you! I’m glad you found this helpful. See you in the next webinar 🙂

Jordan! Thanks a million! What a detailed and helpful post! I’ve bookmarked this!

Hi Michi, it’s a pleasure. Thanks for reading this and for sharing your feedback 🙂

Excellent follow-up to the webinar! Great tips. I will be printing out the 9 Steps graphic. Thanks for all your expertise.

Hi Billy, thank you for sharing your feedback – I’m glad you found this a helpful supplement to the webinar. It’s a pleasure, happy writing!

Thanks a lot for your work. Great article. Everything is very clear and understandable.

excellent writing and every thing is understandable

Dear Asif, I’m so pleased you found this useful! Thanks for writing in. All the best with your writing.

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Freelance Writing Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their freelance writing companies.

If you’re unfamiliar with creating a freelance writing business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a freelance writing business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Freelance Writing Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your freelance writing business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Freelance Writing Business

If you’re looking to start a freelance writing business or grow your existing freelance writing company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your freelance writing business to improve your chances of success. Your freelance writing business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Freelance Writing Businesses

With regard to funding, the main sources of funding for a freelance writing business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for freelance writing companies.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a freelance writing business.

If you want to start a freelance writing business or expand your current freelance writing business, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your freelance writing business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of freelance writing business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a freelance writing business that you would like to grow, or are you operating freelance writing and formatting businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the freelance writing industry.
• Discuss the type of freelance writing business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of freelance writing business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of freelance writing businesses:

• Copywriting: Copywriting is focused on marketing materials to encourage a target audience to make a purchase; it is compelling and focused writing that leads consumers to a decision.
• Grant writing: Grant writing is focused on the art of persuasion, typically noting the needs of a non-profit company and then offering the solution via the services or products of the non-profit company. Grant writing requires research and a storyline that compels readers to provide funding for worthy public or private projects.
• Technical freelance writing: A technical freelance writer is focused on user manuals, product documentation, and instructional guides. This type of writing demands expertise in vocabulary and precision in writing.
• Resume/Cover Letter freelance writing: One of the major reasons freelance writers are hired is the on-going need for creative, yet comprehensive resumes and/or cover letters. Almost every person seeking employment today will look for a writer to take on the task of creating compelling content in the form of a winning resume.

In addition to explaining the type of freelance writing business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of customers served, the amount of revenue during the past six months, opening a design and formatting business to support the freelance writing business, etc.
• Your legal business structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the freelance writing industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the freelance writing industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your freelance writing business plan:

• How big is the freelance writing industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your freelance writing business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your freelance writing business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, businesses, charitable foundations and  government agencies.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of freelance writing business you operate. Clearly, individuals would respond to different marketing promotions than government agencies, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regard to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

Finish Your Freelance Writing Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other freelance writing businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes companies that provide templates, forms, or computer-generated materials. You need to mention such competition, as well.

For each direct competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of freelance writing business are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What sets their business apart from others?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regard to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And, don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide options for 24/7 service or 2-hour turnaround times?
• Will you offer products or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a freelance writing business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of freelance writing company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide full-package curriculum vitae completion for C-suite executives?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your freelance writing company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your freelance writing business located in a corporate complex where customers can meet in-person with you to discuss projects? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your freelance writing marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute direct mail pieces to your target audience
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) with target keywords on your website

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your freelance writing business, including answering calls, planning and researching subject matter, paying invoices, contacting customers, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your freelance writing business to a second resume-writing service.

Management Team

To demonstrate your freelance writing business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing freelance writing businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But, also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a freelance writing business or successfully running a copywriting department in a large corporation.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you serve more than ten customers per month, and/or offer special pricing for projects over 20,000 pages in length? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your freelance writing business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit, but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a freelance writing business:

• Cost of computer and printer equipment
• Cost of furnishings
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, office supplies and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan, along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or a list of high-profile resources you can access and include in your writing categories.

Writing a business plan for your freelance writing business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the freelance writing industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful freelance writing business.

Freelance Writing Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my freelance writing business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your freelance writing business plan.

How Do You Start a Freelance Writing Business?

Starting a Freelance Writing business is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Freelance Writing Business
• Create Your Freelance Writing Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Freelance Writing Business
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Freelance Writing Business (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Freelance Writing Business with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Freelance Writing Business
• Buy or Lease the Right Freelance Writing Business Equipment
• Develop Your Freelance Writing Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Freelance Writing Business
• Open for Business

Where Can I Download a Free Business Plan Template PDF?

Click here to download the pdf version of our basic business plan template.

Our free business plan template pdf allows you to see the key sections to complete in your plan and the key questions that each must answer. The business plan pdf will definitely get you started in the right direction.

We do offer a premium version of our business plan template. Click here to learn more about it. The premium version includes numerous features allowing you to quickly and easily create a professional business plan. Its most touted feature is its financial projections template which allows you to simply enter your estimated sales and growth rates, and it automatically calculates your complete five-year financial projections including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Here’s the link to our Ultimate Business Plan Template.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Freelance Writing business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to see how Growthink’s business planning advisors can create your business plan for you.

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The Creative Penn

Writing, self-publishing, book marketing, making a living with your writing

Tips For Your Author Business Plan With Joanna Penn

posted on December 14, 2020

Podcast: Download (Duration: 48:14 — 39.4MB)

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

You are an author. You turn ideas into reality in the shape of a book.

You turn the thoughts in your head into valuable intellectual property assets. You understand how powerful the written word can be. Now it's time to use your words to create a business plan to take your writing career to the next level — whatever that means for your situation.

In this episode, I share some chapters from my new book, Your Author Business Plan , available now.

In the intro, Bob Dylan sold his song catalogue for $300 million [ The Guardian ] and thoughts on how streaming is impacting revenues [ Financial Times ]; Spotify and blockchain [ Musically ]; Daniel Ek interview [ Tim Ferriss Podcast ]; China's AI audiobook narration in the author's voice [BBC]; Tiktok's owner Bytedance launches an app with AI-narrated audiobooks [RadiiChina].

Google’s next Android update will expand audiobook availability on Google Play Books by auto-generating AI narrations for books that don’t offer an audio version [ Techcrunch ]. It's already available for public domain books. [ Google Play Books ]. Plus, Orna Ross and I talk about our Mistakes, Failures and Setbacks on the author journey [ Ask ALLi podcast ].

Your Author Business Plan: Take Your Author Career to the Next Level is out now in ebook, paperback, large print, and companion workbook editions. Plus, you can get the audiobook directly from me, and available in the other stores in January. You can get 50% off any of my audiobooks and ebooks if you buy direct from me – Payhip.com/thecreativepenn – coupon: DEC20

Here's how to apply the coupon correctly if you're unsure . Plus, I have made Successful Self-Publishing free as an ebook and an audiobook so you can give the Bookfunnel audiobook app a try for free. It could be a gamechanger for selling audio direct.

On this episode, I share two chapters from my [human-narrated!] audiobook, which starts at 26 mins if you want to jump straight to it.

• What is a business plan?
• Business summary and big picture goals
• Marketing Strategy. Author eco-system

Here are the chapters of the audiobook featured in the episode. You can find links to Your Author Business Plan in all formats here and at the bottom of the page.

What is a business plan? [6:22 mins]

A ‘business plan’ might seem like a dry, soulless document — the complete opposite to the creative words that you pour onto the page for your books. But think again.

Business is creative

Look around you. People working in some kind of business created much of what you see. Business creates jobs and meaningful work. It fuels income and enables money to flow between people. It turns ideas into reality.

If you can reframe business as creative, then you can also reframe your business plan that way. You are actively shaping your future writing career, and what could be more creative than that!

If you can articulate what you want, you can turn it into reality

You might think you know what you want to achieve and how to do that, but when you try to write it down, you may well discover that your thought process is fuzzy and you haven’t quite worked out what you want to say. That happens with our books, and will likely happen with your business plan, but the very act of writing it down will help make it clearer.

You’ll discover where you’re being over-ambitious, or over-complicating things, or trying to do too much based on the time you have. You’ll also find aspects that will challenge you and help you face the fears that are part of every creative life.

You’ll also consider the reasons behind what you want. So often we plow ahead into busy tasks and getting things done without ensuring that our actions will lead us to an endpoint we want to pursue.

Writing your plan down will also help you to turn it into reality, because you will have to articulate what you want to achieve. As you go through this book, don’t just answer the questions in your head. Write them down and turn your plan into words. You might be surprised by what you find.

A business plan has a high-level strategic focus

Your business plan will have a section on the books you’re going to write, but it won’t detail how you will actually write them. It will have a section on publishing, but it won’t include the steps for how to publish a book.

Your plan should be high-level. Think of yourself physically rising high above and looking down on your author business as it is now and where you want it to be in the future. You can’t see all the detail from high up, but you can see more strategically than if you’re down in the weeds.

A business plan is more than a goal … or a dream

I have a dream to see at least one of my novels turned into TV or film. This is a pretty common dream for fiction authors! A dream is something that you would love to achieve, but there are so many things out of your control that even if you do everything ‘right,’ it still may not happen. You can dream of being a brand name author like JK Rowling or Stephen King or Yuval Noah Harari, but there is no guarantee that you can achieve it.

A goal is something that could be achieved if you take consistent action toward it for the long term

I have a goal to become an award-winning author, recognized by my peers for the quality of my craft. At the time of writing this book, I am award-nominated. I made the final five for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Ebook Original in 2017. I sat in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City, on the edge of my seat as my name was read out as a finalist. I didn’t win, but I keep taking steps toward this goal.

I focus on improving my craft, and I write the best thrillers I can. I work with professional editors and continue to submit my books to awards. I cannot include “Win an ITW award” on my business plan, because it is ultimately out of my control, but I can include, “Write the next thriller” or “Invest in a craft course to learn more about endings,” or, “Allocate $X for editorial feedback.” Of course, if I achieve the goal of award-winning author, I may well take a step closer to my dream of seeing my novel turned into a film or TV series. These steps compound over time as we improve the craft and the business.

Make sure your business plan includes practical steps toward your goals rather than dreams that are out of your control.

A business plan can be in any format

You’re not going to present this to a bank manager. You're not pitching for funding and you don’t need to justify anything to anybody. You don’t have to share this with your significant other, your writing group or the internet. This is for you, so your business plan can be whatever you want it to be.

You can draw it with colored pens or make a collage, or you can use a spreadsheet. You can hand-write it in a journal, or you can type it into a document. You can use the downloadable template included with the book or you can use the Companion Workbook available in print . Whatever works for you.

A business plan is a living document

You're not going to make one business plan for the rest of your life. Whatever you think you want, it will inevitably change as your writing career progresses, the market shifts, and your life develops. Start where you are and expect it to change.

Make sure you date your plan and keep the historical versions. It's always interesting to look back and wonder, “why did I want to do that?” Inevitably, something will make sense to you at the time, but later on, you might change your mind so it’s good to keep track of your reasons why.

• Why do you want to create one for your author business? Why will you spend time on this?

Chapter 1.2 Business Summary and Big Picture Goals [8 mins]

In this section, you will summarize your author business in a succinct way. This helps to frame the entire business plan. Some people might call this a mission statement, but you might prefer to consider it as a direction or a guiding principle.

Even though this is a short section in the plan, it’s similar to a book description in that it can be the hardest part. You might need to write a lot of words before you truly articulate what you want, so give it a go and then circle back once you’ve completed the other sections, as your answers later may inform this part.

Before you write your business summary, you need to consider some big questions.

What is your ‘why’?

Why do you want an author business, anyway?

Why is writing more than just a hobby for you? (Since no one ever does a business plan for their hobby!)

If you want to “make some money,” consider the reason behind that.

Personally, my author business is about giving me the freedom to choose what I create, how I spend my time, where I live, and where I travel now and into the future. It means I am truly independent. I want income to fund my creative lifestyle now and also fund my investments for the future so I can keep on creating for the long term.

I also have a deep need to be useful, as many people do, and the non-fiction side of my business fulfills that need and helps my community.

What is your core life value?

This is a huge question but if you can articulate this, it will guide so much of what you do, in both your creative business and your life. It might also help you to understand why you might be unhappy and unsatisfied in other areas.

Examples of values include family, loyalty, faith, honesty, sustainability, and optimism. You can find lists of values online if you’re struggling.

Of course, we all have multiple values, never just one. List as many as you think apply to you and then spend some time moving them up and down. Be honest about what is the most important in your hierarchy. It will help you to decide the direction of your business.

Freedom is my highest value, with the associated aspect of independence, and this shapes many of the decisions I make in business and also in my personal life. Before doing something, I ask, “Will this give me more freedom or less? Will this help fuel my independence or will it leave me trapped in the future?”

You might have used this values list in creating characters if you write fiction. It’s an incredibly powerful tool because values shape behavior and actions, which all have consequences. A positive value can also become a fatal flaw, and believe me, I know this well! For example, if you take freedom and independence too far, you might never collaborate or work with other people, you might never enter a long-term relationship, or ask for help if you need it.

It’s obvious how this value has shaped my business plan over the last decade, but yours will probably be different. For example, a business plan based on the core value of Family might favor income streams that don’t require being away from home; or a core value of Status might focus on pitching a prestigious agent or aiming for a literary prize. Only you can decide what’s most important.

Who do you serve?

A business makes money by selling customers what they want to buy. This might seem obvious, but many authors don’t think about readers until they have finished a book and want to market it. If you think about this upfront, it will help you with your business plan, but of course, I know from experience that my creative muse does not want to be put into a box!

If you know your target market already, brilliant! Include that in this section. If you’re not quite sure, then we’ll go into more detail in chapter 1.4 Comparison authors and reader avatar , which is mainly focused on books, but the principles also apply if you’re offering services, courses, or other products.

• What will you say “no” to?

At the beginning of your author career, you will probably say “yes” to everything and try all kinds of creative projects and marketing techniques. That’s a great way to start, especially if you’re a multi-passionate creator, as I am.

But as you go through your author journey, tasks will proliferate and expand and you may find yourself overwhelmed by all the things you decided to start: Multiple series of books in different genres, different marketing channels with various audiences, and so on.

At some point, you have to start saying no. If you create boundaries with your high-level business plan, it will help you to say no to the things that aren’t important for your overall life value and goals.

For example, I went down the rabbit hole of screenwriting for a few years. I've written a couple of screenplays. I've been to conferences and paid for courses. I've interviewed screenwriters on my podcast. Screenwriting is an incredible skill, and it’s helped my writing craft in terms of story structure, but being a screenwriter is a completely different career and it’s not something I want to focus on. When I’m tempted to work on a screenplay, I look at my “no” list and get back to writing another book.

Create your business summary

Now it’s time to write a succinct summary that encapsulates your business. You might have several, for example, by author brand, as the purpose might be different. Here are mine as examples.

The Creative Penn empowers authors with the knowledge they need to choose their creative future. Books and courses by Joanna Penn, as well as The Creative Penn Podcast , provide information and inspiration on how to write, publish, and market books, and make a living as a writer.

J.F. Penn provides escape and entertainment for lovers of thriller and dark fantasy through books, associated media, and the Books and Travel Podcast .

Both summaries reflect my core value of freedom, and they include my target market as well as my main products. They also underpin my financial and creative goals.

In order to facilitate freedom and independence, my primary business goal is to create multiple-six-figure revenue streams from different aspects of the business so it’s resilient against market changes. I also have a goal to win an award where peers judge my creative work, and that can only be achieved by writing more books, the heart of both brands.

I know it’s a difficult task, but as with a book description, start by writing a rough draft and hone it down until you’re happy — with the knowledge that you can change it later!

• What is your why? Why do you want an author business, anyway?
• What is your core life value? Or your top three, if you’re struggling with one.
• How are you currently living this value? How could you move closer to it?
• Who do you serve? Who is your target market?
• What is your business summary, by author brand if applicable?

Chapter 3.1 Marketing Strategy. Author eco-system [6:20 mins]

You cannot publish a book and just expect it to sell. That’s not the reality of life in the 2020s. There are so many millions of books and a multitude of other options through podcasts, TV, film, gaming, and music that you need to draw attention to your work somehow.

Marketing is the act of promoting your books, products, or services and although many authors resist it, marketing is an integral part of the writing life and therefore critical for your business plan.

There are lots of different ways to market your books and build your author platform, which I cover extensively in How to Market a Book , but in this section, try to rise above the detail of tactics and consider a high-level view of your author ecosystem.

What is an ecosystem and why do you need one?

An ecosystem is basically a network, and in this context, it’s all the things that work together for your brand. This is sometimes called your author platform and includes all the ways that you can reach your readers.

If you build an ecosystem for your books, it will become much easier to manage marketing and sales over time because it will all work together in the background as you continue to write and increase your body of work. You can add in short-term advertising to the mix, but a robust ecosystem can underpin your career over the long-term.

My non-fiction ecosystem for Joanna Penn

The central hub is my website, TheCreativePenn.com. For more than a decade, I’ve created articles, videos and my podcast as marketing content that bring people to the site. 99% of the content is free and the business model is based on a percentage of those people buying something or clicking on an affiliate link at some point.

My email sign-up offer, the free Author Blueprint , provides me with a steady stream of new contacts, essential for an online business, and I have an autoresponder series leading people into more useful content. I’ve used this same call to action for over a decade, but I update the material every six months to ensure it remains relevant.

I have books, courses, tutorials, and tools that provide value to my community, all linked from the website and within the emails and content that I produce.

I own and control my intellectual property assets, and I pay for premium hosting, so I own and control my website. But of course, your ecosystem has to be more than just your own website. You need to take advantage of the opportunities to reach customers with your books and marketing content on other sites.

The most common examples are:

• Publishing sites like Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Google, Draft2Digital, Ingram Spark, Findaway Voices, and more. These sites ensure that my books are available in every format, in every country.
• Podcasting platforms like Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, and more to reach listeners
• Video platforms like YouTube and Facebook Live
• Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and others
• Advertising platforms like Facebook Ads, BookBub, and Amazon Marketing

Think of these as ‘outposts,’ places where you can reach customers but that you do not own or control. Over the years, these platforms have changed their terms and conditions and authors have had to adapt. For example, both Amazon and Facebook have shifted from organic reach to ‘pay for play’ in the last few years in terms of advertising.

These sites are part of the author ecosystem, but the goal should always be to drive people back to your main site and sign up to your email list so you can control the relationship over time.

My fiction ecosystem for J.F. Penn

The central hub is my website, www.JFPenn.com , which has pages for each of my books with links to the various stores and how to buy direct, as well as an email sign-up for my free ebook offer at www.JFPenn.com/free

I have an email autoresponder series that introduces readers to my books and after a period of time, includes an offer to be part of my Pennfriends team for Advanced Review Copies of my new books.

I include some content on the site, like videos from my research, but my main content marketing activity is my Books and Travel Podcast , which has a call to action for my free thriller. I use the same outposts as non-fiction, with the publishing sites being the primary focus for book sales.

Design an ecosystem for the long term

If you’re just starting out, it's hard to imagine creating such an ecosystem, but if you think about it strategically early on, you can build something that will last.

If you’re further into the author journey, then consider what your ecosystem looks like right now. Start with where you are and consider what you want your ecosystem to look like in five or ten years’ time, and take action toward that.

• What does your author ecosystem look like now?
• What do you currently own and control?
• If you carry on as you are for the next five years, or ten years, what will your ecosystem look like?
• What do you need to change to ensure it works for you over the long term?

Available now in ebook, paperback, large print, and workbook editions. You can also buy the audiobook directly from me now, and it will be on the various audio platforms in early 2021.

Buy ebook direct from me!

Reader Interactions

December 17, 2020 at 1:01 pm

I’m diving back into writing for the first time after a 3-year hiatus, and this is great! I do have a hard time balancing my non-fiction (via an active blog and coaching group online) with my passion writing (lots of sci-fi and fantasy), and I’ve never tried to schedule a plan that would incorporate both. I might give that a go!

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The 7-Step Business Plan for Writers

Today’s guest post is by author Angela Ackerman ( @AngelaAckerman ) of Writers Helping Writers .

As you’ve probably heard, there’s no such thing as “only being a writer” any more, and while many might not want to handle the business side of things, to give ourselves and our books the best chance of success, we must.

In May 2012, when Becca Puglisi and I self-published The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression , we had quite a few challenges. Living in different countries, we needed to create a formal partnership, set up businesses, and figure out how revenue would work. We had to learn publishing and take on marketing and promotion. Neither of us had a business or marketing background, so we relied heavily on research and intuition, and did our best to make the book discoverable. (You can read about our initial marketing plan here .)

Our unusual book on showing character emotion created buzz among writers, igniting word of mouth. Suddenly our lives went from busy to crazy as we tried to keep up with the burst of attention, writing guest posts, teaching workshops, and providing interviews. Books sales continued to strengthen, and we sold foreign rights. A few universities listed the book as required reading, and publishers began approaching us. At this point, Becca and I realized how far the book could go, but because we were being pulled in so many different directions, we didn’t know how to best take advantage of these opportunities.

The need for a business plan became our No. 1 focus. Fortunately, my husband is a management consultant who creates plans for many of his clients. With his help, we identified three areas that would help us grow in the year ahead:

• improving our professional image and brand credibility : creating a website, presenting at conferences and hosting workshops
• providing new product for our audience : writing two new descriptive thesaurus books
• expanding into the education sector : contacting colleges and universities to spread awareness of our writing resources

The roadmap we created allowed us to avoid distractions and focus on what would help us grow.

As we near the end of the year, Becca and I now have a professional website, three writing resource books that have collectively sold nearly 50,000 copies, and we increased our credibility through speaking engagements, teaching at conferences, and hosting workshops. In the near future we are looking to create awareness of our books at the collegiate level, rounding out our business plan objectives.

Since much of our productivity and growth are a direct result of forming a business plan (and sticking to it), I want to share steps you can take to create your own.

Step 1: Brainstorm

Imagine your year ahead and what you would like to accomplish as a writer. What will help you reach your goals, whether it’s publication, releasing more books, beefing up your online visibility, or honing your craft? Write down everything that you want to accomplish, and don’t forget smaller goals, as these are necessary steppingstones to achieving larger ones.

Also, choose goals that are within your power to make happen. For example, while you might really want representation, “getting an agent” is not necessarily something you can attain yourself; the agent decides whom they represent. However, “researching and querying all suitable agents” is a goal you can set and meet.

Step 2: Find Your Themes

Read through your list and look for bigger themes. Are there several goals that fit into a similar area of focus, like platform building or writing improvement? Grab some highlighters and group these together. Then, choose a name or tag line that summarizes each theme or area of focus.

Common themes might include

• Social networking improvement (platform building and connection)
• Education (attending workshops, finding a critique partner, improving one’s craft, studying the industry, etc.)
• Publishing (trying for an agent, working towards a traditional contract or self-publishing)
• Marketing visibility (researching and implementing ads, hiring a publicist, finding one’s audience online, soliciting reviews, etc.)

Step 3: Assign Importance

Now that your goals are organized into different focus areas (themes), step back and look at the big picture. Based on where you are now, which areas are the highest priority? For example, querying agents (publication related) and honing your writing skills (education related) might both be areas you’d like to focus on, but if your writing still needs work, it will be a waste of time to query agents immediately. Likewise, if you are winning notable contests and trusted critique partners are hard-pressed to see how you can improve, likely you should make getting your work in front of agents and editors a priority.

This step involves soul-searching and honesty. Sometimes desire (wanting to be published right now,  for example) can get in the way of what we actually need (to hone our craft further). To be objective, set emotion aside. Ask yourself hard questions about what your career really needs. If it helps, pretend you are advising a writer friend. If they were in your shoes, what important things would you suggest they work on to get ahead?

Step 4: Pick Two or Three Main Goals

Now comes the hard part: choosing which goals to pursue. Which two areas of focus did you mark as being the most critical? These two themes (say “Education” and “Networking”) should be the primary focus of your business plan. Pick specific goals that will help you most in these areas.

Once you choose a goal, think about the steps you must take to achieve it. For example, if your goal is to “Build a Platform” you might have action items like open a twitter account and build a following ,  take a class on social networking, and join a group blog . For inspiration, look at the highlighted lists you made. Chances are you’ll find smaller goals listed there that will help you achieve your larger one.

Two primary areas of focus or main goals are good for a business plan, but if you have a third area you’d like to tackle, list it as a secondary goal. Do the same exercise as above and list out tasks (action items) that must be carried out to achieve this goal.

When making these decisions, think carefully about your time. We all have roles and commitments outside of writing, and these things require a lot of energy. Business goals should be achievable, so don’t take on more than you can handle.

Step 5: Set a Timeline for Each Goal

Stick to your plan by setting timelines that fit your schedule. Becca and I chose a seasonal timeline, so we knew which goal to pursue at which time of the year. This helped us meet completion dates. If you are unsure how much time a certain task will require, set a deadline with a fallback date. This way you won’t be discouraged if you miss the initial deadline, and you’ll have a buffer if needed.

Step 6: Bring It Together in a One-Page Plan

A visual helps when it comes to following a business plan. By condensing your plan on one page, it will force you to be succinct in what must be accomplished to meet each goal. You can use a spreadsheet or table to do this (Excel, Google spreadsheet, a piece of paper, etc) or download this template . Here’s the business plan Becca and I created for ourselves:

When your spreadsheet is filled out, print and display it where you write. This will remind you of what you should be doing and help you make good use of your time.

Step 7: Commit and Challenge Yourself Daily

Once your plan is complete, stick to it. When new opportunities come up, see if they fit your plan. It’s important to take advantage of potential windfalls, but only if they further your goals and you have the time.

Before you print your business plan, type this statement in bold at the bottom: Is what I’m doing or about to do helping me achieve my goals? Before you commit time and energy to new projects, challenge yourself with this question to evaluate if it’s worthwhile.

In today’s publishing landscape, writers must become master jugglers, wearing many hats. Whether you’re published or pre-published, having a business plan is one of the smartest things you can do to keep yourself on track, maximize your time, and ensure that you reach your milestones.

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This is FANTASTIC and just what I needed to see this morning! Great post and I love your books Angela. They continue to help me hone my craft.

Thanks so much, Adrienne. I really hope this plan helps you map out your best path forward. Happy writing (and business planning!)

[…] Angela is at Jane Friedman’s blog, sharing a 7-Step Business Plan for Writers, because in this new world of publishing, it is more important than ever for writers to engage in […]

Good step-by-step guide to create an overview of goals and an action plan for writers. It’s certainly a useful tool, although I wouldn’t call it a business plan since that usually also includes the financial aspects of a business. It’s a good starting point, and for writers who have other financial means to pay the bills, this is probably all they need. Writers who want to turn their writing into a full-time career can easily expand this action plan to include the financial aspects (cash budget including business and personal income and expenses, investment plan, three-year-estimate for business turnover and expenses to get a mid-term overview).

Thanks for posting this!

Hi Saoirse,

Yes, this isn’t meant to take the place of a full scale plan–I wanted to share something that both pre-published and published authors could use as a starting point, especially those who might find the idea of a creating a business plan daunting. Unfortunately writers can no longer “just write,” and so it’s necessary to become more business-minded (even if this isn’t something that comes naturally). Thanks so much for the comment!

You’re welcome 🙂 If you ever plan on publishing a blog post about expanding this with the financial aspects, let me know and I’d be happy to write a guest post about it (I’ve written more than one complete business plan in my life, both for myself and others).

Sounds good–thanks for offering, Saoirse. I will keep this in mind! 🙂

You can contact me at saoirse.omara (at) gmail dot com (just realised that my name isn’t clickable lol).

Thanks for sharing ideas for a business plan. I need to save this one!

Happy this will help you Linda. 🙂 Have a great week!

Although I don’t need a business plan right now, I want to thank you for The Emotion Thesaurus! I bought if first on Kindle, then realized I’d like to have a paper copy, too. It’s been an immense help when my editor says, “More emotion, Eleanor, dig deeper,” a refrain I hear often. So, thanks for helping me mine my own and my characters’ emotions! Eleanor Sullivan, Graven Images, A Singular Village Mystery

HI Eleanor,

I am thrilled that The Emotion Thesaurus is helping you! Writing character emotion is such a struggle, because we want it to feel authentic, but tend to get trapped in reusing the same descriptors to show it. Hopefully the entries in the book offer you a path to spark your brain quickly so you can stay in the flow and write the scene. Thanks for the comment!

Awesome suggestions, Angela! Love the chart! And this is a good time of the year to focus on goals and new beginnings!

Sue, it is the perfect time, isn’t it? Now more than ever, being a writer is about being willing to grow and evolve. The good thing is that there is so much content out there to help us find our way. I hope the chart helps you. 🙂

Thank you so much Jane for having me here today. I just finished watching your Google hangout with CEA, and can’t wait for the next installment! Thanks so much for the great summary of the shifting writing landscape.

Angela, This is an well-thought-out and doable plan. I love that you included plans to get training where needed as well as being open to traditional and self-publishing. Your post made me remember that I have taken many webinars and workshops over the years. Before I take another one I need to go back and review all the content on marketing, building a platform, etc. that I’ve already gathered. Thank you.

Very happy to help. As writers, we are in constant development, but if we try to focus on everything, or too much on one thing, then we aren’t making the best use of our time. Sometimes sitting down and looking hard at what we want for ourselves, both long term and short term, is a healthy step to moving forward more productively. 🙂

I’m so happy to hear about all your success, Angela. If anyone’s worked hard and deserves it, you do. (And how nice to be married to a business consultant, right?) Thanks for all the tips. 🙂

Haha, Lexa, yes his brain has come in handy, although I appreciate the fact that he hasn’t tried to “take over” and only offers help if I ask. His business world and my publishing world have some overlap, but there are also things that work very differently between the two, so I need to understand my world enough to know what advice might work, and what will not. (And thank you–I feel so grateful to have such great supporters like you!)

So practical and thoughtful! Makes great sense, and I can implement it immediately. Also use for my ‘other’ passion, genealogy, and my goals there as well! I appreciate the clear language and straightforward style in this post as well. Cheers.

Yes Celia, this business plan can really be used in any area. even one’s personal development. 🙂 I am happy it will be of use to you. Thanks for the visit.

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What should i include in my business plan.

You must have an executive summary, product/service description, market and competitive analysis, marketing and sales plan, operations overview, milestones, company overview, financial plan, and appendix.

Why should I write a business plan?

Businesses that write a business plan typically grow 30% faster because it helps them minimize risk, establish important milestones, track progress, and make more confident decisions.

What are the qualities of a good business plan?

A good business plan uses clear language, shows realistic goals, fits the needs of your business, and highlights any assumptions you’re making.

How long should my business plan be?

There is no target length for a business plan. It should be as long as you need it to be. A good rule of thumb is to go as short as possible, without missing any crucial information. You can always expand your business plan later.

How do I write a simple business plan?

Use a one-page business plan format to create a simple business plan. It includes all of the critical sections of a traditional business plan but can be completed in as little as 30 minutes.

What should I do before writing a business plan?

If you do anything before writing—figure out why you’re writing a business plan. You’ll save time and create a far more useful plan.

What is the first step in writing a business plan?

The first thing you’ll do when writing a business plan is describe the problem you’re solving and what your solution is.

What is the biggest mistake I can make when writing a business plan?

The worst thing you can do is not plan at all. You’ll miss potential issues and opportunities and struggle to make strategic decisions.

Business planning guides

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Business planning FAQ

What is business planning?

Business planning is the act of sitting down to establish goals, strategies, and actions you intend to take to successfully start, manage, and grow a business.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to write a business plan include:

• Craft a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services
• Conduct market research and compile data into a market analysis
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy
• Outline your organizational structure and management team
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow
• Add additional documents to your appendix

What should a business plan include?

A traditional business plan should include:

• An executive summary
• Description of your products and services
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing and sales plan
• Overview of business operations
• Milestones and metrics
• Description of your organization and management team
• Financial plan and forecasts

Do you really need a business plan?

You are more likely to start and grow into a successful business if you write a business plan.

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

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