Free Business Plan Template: What To Include for 2025

A solid business plan can help attract investors to fund your company and guide you in deciding how your business will operate while anticipating future challenges. The easiest way to start is by using a business plan template.

Ahead, learn how each element works together to form a strong business plan. You can also download Shopify’s free business plan template to help you get started.

7 elements of a traditional business plan 

1. Executive summary
2. Company overview
3. Products or services offered
4. Market analysis
5. Marketing plan
6. Logistics and operations plan
7. Financial plan

The process of writing a business plan can help new business owners think through all aspects of running a new company.

Shopify’s free business plan template includes seven key elements typically found in the traditional business plan format. However, if you plan to use your business plan to secure funding, check with your target banks or investors to see if they have a preferred business plan template.

Here are the sections you’ll find in Shopify’s free business plan template:

1. Executive summary

This is a one-page summary of your whole plan, usually written after completing the rest of your document. In this section, you’ll outline what your company is and its purpose.

You’ll touch on the contents of the rest of your plan, including:

• Product overview. Give a brief explanation of what you’re selling.

• Target market. Who will you sell your products to?

• Competitive advantage. Explain what you have that competitors don’t.

• Leadership structure. Explain who will run your company.

• Mission statement. Explain the purpose of your company and why it exists. 

• High-level financial and growth plans. Give an overview of your current sales and profits, financial projections, what funding you hope to receive, and how you expect your company to grow. 

2. Company overview

This section of your business plan outlines your business concept and explains how you will execute it. Ultimately, it answers two fundamental questions: “Who are you?” and “What do you plan to do?” You’ll include:

• Name. Introduce your business by name, and give any relevant back story on your business name. 

• Location. Where will your business be based? Will you have satellite offices? Will employees work remotely? Where will you do business? 

• Structure. Note your legal structure. For example, are you set up as a partnership? A C corp? 

• Business concept, model, and industry. Briefly explain what your business does, what its sales model is, and what industry it fits into.

• Competitive advantage. Briefly state what you have that competitors don’t.

• Mission and values. Identify your brand values and include a mission statement explaining the impact you want your company to have.

• Business objectives. Name your goals for the short term (in the next year) and long term (in the next one to five years).

• Leadership, management, and employees. What leadership, management, and staff roles will you fill, and what are the responsibilities of each role? How might the team grow over time? Note your company’s organizational structure and include an org chart, if you have one.

3. Products or services offered

This section goes into detail on your products or services. Explain what you plan to sell, and list your products’ most important features. Include any plans to protect your intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

You’ll also list the prices of your products or services and explain your pricing strategy. This means explaining why your prices make sense given market trends, customer preferences, your business costs, and your company’s goals. If your products are more expensive than competitors’, you’ll need to justify why by listing the specific costs or added value that elevate their prices.

4. Market analysis

This section delves into who will buy your products and why. You’ll include:

• Industry outlook. Use market research to describe industry-wide trends. For example, is your industry expected to grow over the next five or 10 years? By how much? How will industry-wide trends affect your business?

• Target market. Get into the details of your target market with: 

• Demographic information: age, gender, geographic location, educational background, and socioeconomic status

• Purchasing habits: How often your target market buys your type of product, and what similar products they currently buy?

• Decision-drivers: pain points, interests, needs, values, and goals

• Competitive analysis. Identify your competitors, then analyze their products, pricing, marketing strategies, distribution channels, and customer base. Use this information to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

• SWOT analysis. List your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).

5. Marketing plan

Your marketing plan explains how you’ll get the word out about your business and convert sales. This will also include:

• Product positioning. A concise explanation of your product’s value proposition to your target market, how you want your target market to think and feel about your product, and how your product fits within its competitors.

• Brand messaging. The language and selling points you’ll use to market your products.

• Acquisition channels and tactics. Where and how you’ll attract new potential customers (like on social media or in online magazines through press coverage).

• Marketing tools. The technologies you’ll need to execute your marketing strategy (like email marketing software or social media management tools). 

• Goals and metrics. The milestones you want to reach (like a certain number of social media followers) and how you’ll define marketing success (such as measuring website traffic linked to certain campaigns).

6. Logistics and operations plan

Here you’ll explain everything that needs to happen to turn raw materials into products and get them into the hands of customers. This will require information on:

• Suppliers and manufacturers. Where will you get your raw materials, and who will manufacture them into your final products?

• Production. How will your products be made? Detail the technologies and processes that facilitate manufacture.

• Inventory management. Will you store your inventory in your own warehouses or outsource storage to a third-party fulfillment partner? Or will you use a dropshipping model and not store any inventory?

• Shipping. Will you ship your products from your warehouses, or will a third-party fulfillment partner do this for you? Do you have any special shipping needs, like extra packaging for delicate products?

7. Financial plan

When you’re just starting out, you’ll want to outline the capital you have and your projected income and expenses: 

• Business capital. Outline the capital you have on hand—for example, any capital you’re contributing yourself or from friends and family—and/or the capital you plan to raise. 

• Projected revenue. Create a projection of the income that will flow into your business (e.g., from sales). If you’re just starting up, you’ll need to make estimates based on forecasted sales; if you’ve been in business for some time, you’ll use historical data. 

• Projected expenses. An account of the money you expect to flow out of your business.

To ensure you understand both the short-term and long-term financials of your business, you’ll want to create two versions of each of these projections. One will look at the first year, broken down by month and potentially by quarter. The second will look ahead to the five-year mark. You’ll assemble the latter into a five-year financial projection.

If you’ve been in business for a while and you’re updating your business plan for investors or lenders, you’ll also want to include your financial statements. 

• Balance sheet. A record of your business’s assets and liabilities.

• Cash flow statement. The cash flowing in and out of your business over a certain time period.

• Income statement. Also known as a profit and loss statement, this shows you the company’s income and expenditures over a specific period of time.

Traditional vs. lean business plan

Conducting research for a traditional business plan (not to mention writing it) can be time consuming. A lean business plan offers a quicker alternative. Shopify’s free business plan includes both.

Here’s how the two compare:

Traditional business plan

A traditional business plan includes detailed information on why your company exists and how it functions. It includes detailed financial information like balance sheets and data-rich components like market analyses. This is the type of business plan you’ll likely use to pitch investors and lenders.

Lean business plan 

Lean business plans are shorter, less time-consuming versions of traditional business plans. They highlight essential information and forgo detailed information like financial breakdowns of each quarter. Condensing and cutting this type of information can help readers understand your company more quickly.

You might create a lean business plan if you expect to change your business plan frequently or if you want your audience to be able to read your business plan quickly. For example, you might share a lean business plan with new hires to help them quickly understand how your company works.

Business plan examples

• Executive summary example
• Market analysis example
• Marketing plan example

What does a financial projection look like on paper? How do you write an executive summary? What should your company overview include? Business plan examples can help answer some of these questions and help you transform your business idea into an actionable plan. 

Inside the template, you’ll find a sample traditional and lean business plan featuring a fictional ecommerce business. 

Here are a few example sections from a traditional business plan for the for the fictional Providence Tea Company:

Executive summary example

Providence Tea Company is a sustainable, socially conscious tea retailer that sources and sells high-quality, ethically sourced tea from small farms in India. Our mission is to support small local farmers and promote sustainable agriculture practices in the tea industry. We are one of the few organic specialty tea companies focused on sustainability, setting us apart from our competitors.

We offer a curated selection of premium teas, sourced from sustainable farms across India. Our teas are carefully hand-blended and packaged in elegant, eco-friendly packaging.

Providence Tea Company will be the go-to source for sustainable, premium tea, and has a strong and loyal customer base. With every purchase, we invest in employment opportunities, infrastructure, and education in order to combat poverty and promote sustainable growth for the communities we are a part of.

Discerning tea lovers who look for premium, high-quality teas and tea accessories make up our target market. They are health-conscious and environmentally conscious individuals who value sustainability and quality. Our marketing efforts focus on building a strong online presence and passionate community. Social media and influencer marketing are how we reach our target audience.

We seek investors to help grow our business and expand our customer base. In the next year, we project revenue of $3 million and a net profit of $550,000. We plan to invest in new retail locations, increase our online presence, and continue to source the best tea from India.

Our unique approach to sourcing and selling tea, combined with our experienced team, makes us well-positioned for success.

Market analysis example

Industry outlook:

The global market for at-home tea is valued at $144.69 billion in 2025, and it’s expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.57% through 2029. Our market analysis indicates there is strong demand for sustainable, ethically farmed tea among socially and environmentally conscious consumers, and that the market is growing. By targeting this market and offering sustainably sourced organic tea products, we can meet this demand and grow our business.

Target market: 

Providence Tea Company’s target market is the health-conscious and environmentally conscious consumer. They are looking for high-quality, sustainably sourced organic tea. These people are professional young adults and health enthusiasts. Our target market:

• Buys organic tea from competitor brands to drink at home at least once per day

• Is concerned about the impact of conventional tea farming on the environment and passionate about supporting farms that offer fair wages

• Is passionate about supporting small businesses over large corporations

• Is committed to buying only fair trade and organic tea, and willing to pay a premium for these features

• Is interested in the health benefits of tea

Our target market is primarily made up of young US adults, with a median age of 25 to 34 years. This group is evenly split between men and women, and has a median household income of $100,000 to $125,000. The target market is also highly educated, with a majority having a college degree or higher.

Competitive analysis:

Competition in the sustainable tea market comes from three types of sellers:

1. Large, established tea brands: With significant market share and a wide range of tea products, including organic and fair trade options, these companies operate with an economy of scale and offer low prices. They do not have relationships with small farms, favoring larger ones instead.

2. Specialty tea shops: With a focus on high-quality, specialty teas, including organic and fair trade options, they typically have a loyal customer base, and may offer a more personalized shopping experience. However, their products are often more expensive than comparable ones sold online.

3. Other sustainable ecommerce tea companies: They offer products similar to ours and share similar values surrounding sustainability and ethical farming practices. They may also have similar target markets and marketing strategies.

SWOT analysis:

Marketing plan example

Positioning statement:

Providence Tea Company’s organic and fair trade tea is sustainably grown and harvested. We support fair wages and good working conditions for tea workers. We believe high-quality, organic tea can support the environment, be socially responsible, and taste good, too.

Brand messaging: 

Providence Tea Company centers its value on sustainable and socially conscious products in all of its external communications. In an approachable yet knowledgeable brand voice, we highlight two key selling points in our marketing materials: The fact that our products are organic, and the fact that they are all sourced from small farms. 

Acquisition channels and tactics:

• Paid advertising: We use Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads to reach customers interested in sustainable and organic products. Targeted ads reach consumers searching for keywords related to organic tea, sustainable tea, and fair trade tea.

• Promotions and discounts: Our team offers promotions and discounts like free shipping, buy-one-get-one-free offers, and limited-time discounts advertised on our website, on our social media channels, and through our email newsletter.

• Public relations: We host sustainability focused in-person events at our headquarters biannually and partner with other sustainable brands to promote our products.

• Content marketing: We create and share valuable and engaging content, like blog posts and videos highlighting the sustainability and ethical sourcing of our tea. Our content educates consumers about the importance of sustainability to build trust and credibility with our target audience.

• Social media marketing: We use social media to share information about our products, sustainability practices, and ethical sourcing, and to connect with consumers interested in sustainable products.

Marketing tools:

• Providence Tea Company runs both of its ecommerce and physical stores on Shopify so we get a complete view into our sales, revenue, and identify growth opportunities. For marketing purposes, we use:

• Shopify Forms for email sign-ups

• Shopify Email for sending newsletters

• Shopify’s segmentation tools to segment our email list

• Shopify’s automation tools to send abandoned browsing and abandoned cart reminders

• The Shopify integration Smile for our loyalty program

• Shopify Analytics to track which social media channels drive the most traffic 

• We use Google Analytics to measure the impact of our organic blog content and identify website traffic patterns.

• We use Google Ads and Meta Ads to run paid advertising campaigns

Goals and metrics:

• We want to reach 10,000 Instagram followers by the end of the year.

• We want to grow our email list by 20% after the first year.

• We will measure the success of paid ad campaigns through click-through-rate, aiming for 3%. 

• We will measure the success of email campaigns through open rate and conversion rate, with goals of a 25% open rate and a conversion rate of 4%.

Benefits of writing a solid business plan

• Test the viability of your business idea
• Plan for your next phase
• Build partnerships
• Secure funds

It’s tempting to dive right into execution when you’re excited about a new business or side project. Taking the time to write a thorough business plan allows you to do a number of beneficial things:

Test the viability of your business idea 

A business plan can make your business idea more tangible, helping understand whether or not it’s viable from a financial perspective. It can also help you figure out whether or not there’s a market for your products.

Plan for your next phase

Writing a business plan can show you the actionable steps you need to take in order to tackle a big, abstract idea. For example, maybe you realize that you didn’t think through the shipping and fulfillment process as you draft your plan. You can use this knowledge to identify the tasks you’ll need to complete and see a bigger picture of how long it will take to get your business up and running.

Build partnerships 

When you need buy-in from employees and business partners, especially in the early stages of your business, a clearly written business plan can give potential employees the information they need to make an informed decision on whether or not they want to join your company. 

Secure funds

Seeking financing for your business—whether from venture capital, banks, or other programs like Shopify Capital—is one of the most common reasons to create a business plan, since many lenders and investors require one before they invest.

Why you should you use a template for a business plan

There are some key benefits to starting your plan from an existing outline or simple business plan template.

Overcome writer’s block

A blank page can be intimidating, even to the most seasoned writers. Using a template can help you get past the inertia of starting your business plan from scratch by breaking down the writing process into actionable steps.

Learn what to include in each section

If you’ve never sat through a business class, you might have never created a balance sheet or a financial projection. Templates that offer guidance—in plain language—about how to fill in each section can help you navigate sometimes-daunting business jargon.

Expedite the research and writing process

Toggling back and forth between tabs as you look up what to include in every section takes extra time—and it can get confusing. Templates that consolidate essential elements into a single document let you focus on thinking about your business—not thinking about whether or not you’re including the right details in each section.

Templates like Shopify’s that include examples can also help you speed up the writing process. You’ll know what type of language to include and how to make sure it flows.

Tips for creating a successful business plan

• Understand the audience for your plan
• Take it step by step
• Maintain consistent voice and tone
• Maximize your business planning efforts

Adhering to a few high-level strategies can help you write an effective, complete plan while minimizing busywork.

Understand the audience for your plan

Knowing who will read your plan will help you decide how much time to spend on it. If you’re writing a business plan for yourself to get clarity on the viability of your product idea you probably don’t need to include a high level of polish. If you’re sending your business plan to potential investors, you’ll want to make sure you’ve fact checked and edited every section.

Your audience will also dictate the points you emphasize and detail in your plan. For example, you might want to spend extra time clarifying your competitive advantage in a business plan for investors. You’ll also want to make sure you’ve included every piece of financial data.

On the other hand, if you’re making a business plan to introduce new salespeople to your company, you’ll probably want to limit the amount of financial data. Instead, you may emphasize the information in your marketing plan. 

Take it step by step

Writing a 10- to 15-page document can feel daunting, so try to tackle one section at a time. You can also start with a lean business plan and expand it to a traditional business plan later on.

To get started, select a couple sections you feel most confident writing—you can tackle the next few sections once those are complete. Jot down bullet-point notes in each section before you start writing to organize your thoughts and streamline the writing process.

Maintain consistent voice and tone

Keeping your voice and tone consistent will make your business plan more professional. As you proofread your plan and check it for factual accuracy, pay attention to stylistic elements as well.

For example, if you adopt a highly formal tone in the first section, don’t switch to an informal one in the second. Visual elements should stay the same, too. If you start with the Times New Roman font, don’t switch to Arial halfway through.

Maximize your business planning efforts

Planning is key to the financial success of any type of business, whether you’re a startup, non-profit, or corporation.

To make sure your efforts are focused on the highest-value parts of your own business planning. This is clarifying your goals, setting a strategy, and understanding the target market and competitive landscape. Lean on a business plan outline to handle the structure and format for you. Even if you eventually omit sections, you’ll save yourself time and energy by starting with a framework already in place.