In order to secure funds for your growing business, or just to have a successful company in general, you must put together a sensible and structured business plan. Most lenders want to see just what they are getting into when they consider investing in a new startup or struggling company. Having a drawn-up proposal of your future prospects and plans for the funds enables them to make the best decision that they can. So, where do you start? Creating a plan for your business doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these tips and get yours going in a jiffy.

To set the stage, you should first start with your executive summary. An executive summary is basically taking your whole business outline, such as what your company does, potential growth, product information and profit estimates, and bottling them up into a short summation. This allows possible investors and those who are interested in your company to quickly see if they want to be involved in what you have to offer.

Including a business model is vital to your business plan. This is the key component that presents your company’s foundation, your products or services, how you make your money, your target market and several other elements. Be sure to include your profits and losses and make an educated estimate as to how that will play out in the next few years. This shows your potential lenders and investors exactly what your company and business is all about.

As a business, marketing is a huge part of your overall success. Without a solid marketing plan, many companies simply don’t make it. Make sure to incorporate your advertising strategies and target markets either into your business model or after it, but do not omit it from your business plan as this give your readers a solid idea of what customers you are after as a company.

Most companies have some sort of competition and all businesses run into different problems along the way. This is the place to address what your strategies are to handle these issues and how you plan to manage it. If you can show your prospective investors that you are able to keep your company under control, even under adverse situations and stiff competition, you will develop not only strong relationships with your lenders, but a great reputation overall.

If your business plan has these components in place, you will be able to present a substantial proposal to any lender and feel confident in your abilities as a business owner.