legal Eagle
Straight-forward legal tips for Military and Veteran Business Owners By Kelly Bagla, Esq. www.BaglaLaw.com
What Type of Business Plan Does Your Company Need? Business plans are written road maps that guide business owners through the various stages of their business. Research supports the fact that businesses with a written and formalized business plan are more likely to achieve their financial viability goals compared to their non-planning peers. Writing a business plan can make a world of difference for entrepreneurs who desire external funding. There are many forms of business plans that cater to various needs of the business. Here are 6 of the most common types of business plans: Startups Business Plans Many budding entrepreneurs start their companies without a business plan. They don’t know how to write one or think it’s too much work, but the truth is that having a plan always helps. A startup business plan outlines your ideas and strategies for launching, managing, and eventually exiting your new venture. Startup business plans usually include an executive summary, marketing strategy, financial information, and operational information. This plan focuses on the steps of a new business, which describes the company, the products or services, the market, the financials, and the management team. It will also include the business vision, mission statement, definition of success and implementation of objective schedules. A detailed startup business plan helps you set milestones for measuring success. You can share the plan with investors who may want some reassurance on the viability of their investment in your company. Internal Business Plans Internal business plans target a specific audience within the business, for example, the marketing team who need to evaluate a proposed project. This plan will describe the company’s current state, including 54
HomelandMagazine.com / January 2026
operational costs and profitability, then calculate if and how the business will repay any capital needed for the project. Internal business plans provide information about project market size and the market’s positive effect on the company income. Strategic Business Plans A strategic business plan provides a high-level view of a company’s goals and how it will achieve them, laying out a foundational plan for the entire company. While the structure of a strategic business plan differs from company to company, most include five elements: business vision, mission statement, definition of critical success factors, strategies for achieving objectives and an implementation schedule. These types of business plans are used to evaluate the company’s current state, operational costs, profitability and what the company wants to achieve for the near future. A strategic business plan brings all levels of the business into the big picture, inspiring employees to work together to create a successful culmination to the company’s goals.