Business plan writing: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What business plan writing is

A business plan writer helps you develop a plan that covers your market, operations, marketing, team and financial projections. The plan is formatted for lenders, investors or your own planning, so the people who read it can check your numbers and reasoning.

Signs you need it

  • A lender or investor has asked for a written plan, and you have ideas but no structured document.
  • You are starting a business and need to think through the market, your costs and your first year.
  • You are changing direction, and your current plan no longer matches what you do.
  • You have a plan in your head but cannot explain it clearly to a partner or to staff.
  • You need financial projections that match your assumptions, and you are not sure how to present them.
  • A program you want to join requires a business plan with specific sections.

What the pro does

  • Reviews your idea, your current numbers and what you already know about your market.
  • Interviews you about your customers, your offer, your operations and your plans for the team.
  • Drafts the plan in the sections your reader expects, such as market, operations, marketing and management.
  • Builds the financial projections from your assumptions, and writes each assumption in words so the reader can check it.
  • Reviews the plan with you and marks the assumptions you must confirm before it goes to a lender or investor.

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • Length of the plan and the number of sections the reader requires.
  • How much market research is needed, and whether you already have data.
  • Complexity of the financial model, such as the number of products, locations or staff plans.
  • Whether the writer builds the projections or only writes the text around numbers you supply.
  • Number of revision rounds and the deadline.
  • Whether a presentation or a short investor summary is included.

What a written quote should spell out

  • The sections the plan will include and the format delivered.
  • Whether the financial projections are built by the writer or supplied by you.
  • Who checks the assumptions, and what the writer does if an assumption does not hold.
  • The number of revision rounds and the deadline.
  • Who owns the plan, and whether the writer may reuse parts of it.

Questions to ask before you hire

  • Who will read the plan, and what do they usually want to see first?
  • Will you build the financial projections, or only write the text around numbers I supply?
  • How do you check my assumptions, such as how many customers I expect or what I plan to charge?
  • Will you write a summary the lender can read quickly?
  • What will you need from me, and what must I confirm before you use it?
  • Can you show a plan you wrote for a business like mine, with confidential details removed?

Red flags

  • Gives you projections with no assumptions written out.
  • Promises that a lender or investor will fund the business.
  • Uses market figures without naming where they come from.
  • Copies a plan from another business and changes only the name.
  • Pushes you to add optimistic figures to make the plan look stronger.

What you can do yourself

You can write a short summary of your business: what you sell, who buys it, how you will reach them and what you need to start. Hire a business plan writer when a lender or program requires a formal document, when the financial projections need careful building, or when you have tried to write the plan yourself and it still does not hold together.

Licenses and permits

Business plan writing is not commonly licensed, so a license is usually not required for this work. Check with your state or local licensing agency about business rules that apply to your company, and ask the writer for sample plans for businesses like yours as proof of skill.

Business plan writing questions

Will a business plan get me a loan?

No plan can promise that. Lenders and investors make their own decisions. A clear plan with honest assumptions makes it easier for them to assess your business.

Do I need financial projections in the plan?

Most formal plans include them, because readers want to see how the business will use money over time. Ask the writer which projections your reader expects, and write down the assumptions behind each one.

How long should the plan be?

Long enough to cover what the reader needs and no longer. A shorter plan with clear assumptions is often more useful than a long one with vague sections. Ask the writer what your reader expects.

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