How to Write a Business Plan: Narrative

Are you wanting to start a business and are looking for guidance on best practices for how to plan your business for success? Understanding what a Business Plan is, and how to write a Business Plan is the right first step. There are two primary parts to a Business Plan – the Financial Projections and the Narrative.  This workshop focuses on how to write the Narrative part of your Business Plan.

A good Business Plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You’ll use your Business Plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. Business Plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners by describing important aspects of running your business.  Your Business Plan is the tool you’ll use to convince people that investing in your company or partnering with your business is a smart choice.  “How to Write a Business Plan: Narrative” focuses on how to describe your business using our Business Plan model.  It will help you sort through the reasons why you believe your business will be successful, the steps you can take to operate your business for success, and the tools you can use to plan for your business’s success.

In this 52-minute workshop, you will learn:

• The two parts of a Business Plan – Financial Projections & Narrative;
• Who needs a Business Plan;
• Business Plan tools available with Alaska SBDC;
• How many pages a Business Plan should be;
• The importance of your Financial Projections;
• The Business Plan outline;
• What order you should write your Business Plan in;
• How to write the Business Description section;
• How to write the Definition of the Market section;
• How to write the Products & Services section;
• How to write the Organization & Management section;
• How to write the Marketing & Sales Strategy section;
• Overview of what’s included in the Financials section;
• How to put it all together;
• What to include in the Supporting Documents section;
• How Alaska SBDC can help you in preparing your Business Plan; and
• Resources Alaska SBDC has that can help you prepare your Business Plan.

Presented by: Julie Nolen, Former SBDC Assistant State Director

OTHER RELATED WORKSHOPS:

Starting a Business

Creating Financial Projections for Your Business Plan