Starting a business can be a haphazard affair, as there’s always a list of responsibilities on deck that only continues to grow. However, you can save yourself a lot of anxiety and stress if you simply create a proper business plan ahead of time. While this can’t prepare you for every unexpected event that occurs, forming an ideal model for your company can provide you with a basic standard to follow that keeps you on the right track to prosperity. So what should you incorporate in your newly-devised action plan? Here are some key elements to include that can help you persuade any potential lenders or venture capitalists to buy into your business idea.

A proper plan doesn’t simply revolve around your day-to-day operations. A strong business plan means creating a persuasive argument for why your business is going to prosper for years to come, appealing to lenders and bankers to help you acquire necessary funding. For this reason, it’s crucial that you start by doing your industry research and coming up with a well thought-out idea, supported by clear objectives and goals, and how sufficient funding can help you achieve these goals to the utmost extent. You can start by creating an executive summary, which outlines your plan of attack for your business and sells the concept in just a couple of pages. Following this should be a company summary, which clearly defines things like what your company does, states the mission or message that drives you in your business pursuit, the ownership that will be involved and the history behind its creation. Once you’ve established this, you can focus your plan on the exact product or service you’re looking to provide to your customers, and how you hope to succeed for the long haul.

Next, you should start to illustrate your market analysis, which details your intended audience, who your competitors are in your field, the size of your market in industry terms and how the market itself is expected to grow. After describing your research, you can then put into words how you plan to best utilize this information, implementing it into a master plan that details how you plan to sell your product or service, and what milestones you hope to achieve at various times. Once you’ve outlined all of your ideas and strategies, finish by creating a financial outlook that includes sales and profit outcomes that your potential lenders will want to see.

Creating a strong business plan can be highly effective for your company’s success. Use this formula to prevent setbacks and guide your company towards future prosperity without a hitch.