business plan reading answers

IELTS Mentor "IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer"

Skip to content
Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

IELTS Sample

GT Reading Test 30 Section 3 - Business Planning

Gt reading mock test 30:, section 3: questions 28-40, gt reading: "business planning", business planning, questions 28-34, questions 35-40.

IELTS Materials

IELTS Bar Graph
IELTS Line Graph
IELTS Table Chart
IELTS Flow Chart
IELTS Pie Chart
IELTS Letter Writing
IELTS Essay
Academic Reading

Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Copyright Notice
HTML Sitemap

Business Planning Reading Questions and Answers

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions:

IELTS Reading Flowchart Completion
IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given

Stay informed and prepared for success – Explore our comprehensive Reading Test Info page to get valuable insights, exam format details, and expert tips for mastering the IELTS Reading section .

IELTS Reading passage – Business Planning

Business Planning

What is a Business plan?

It is probably best described as a summary and evaluation of your business idea, in writing.Preparation of a business plan is the first and most important task for the business starter. The plan should include details concerning the industry in which you operate, your product or service, marketing, production, personnel and financial strategies.

What purpose does it serve?

A business plan allows you to think through all the factors of a business, and to solve potential problems before you come to them. It will identify strengths and weaknesses and help to assess whether the business can succeed. It is a blueprint for starting, maintaining or expanding a business. It is a working plan to use in comparing your achievements to the goals you set. It should provide information required by financial institutions when finance is sought.

How to produce a Business plan

Step 1: Collect InformationGather as much relevant information as possible concerning the industry in which you intend to operate (the number of businesses already operating, the size of their operations, where they are located). Use books, industry associations, and existing business owners to help you.Collect all possible information regarding the market/s you are aiming for (who buys, why do they buy, what are the key features the customer looks for).Learn all you can about the product/s or services you intend to produce, distribute or offer.Step 2: AnalysisRead over all the material you have collected and decide what is relevant to your business idea. You may have to modify your idea depending on what your research shows. The key question to ask is:“Can you design a business that will earn enough to cover costs and pay a wage and reasonable profit to you as a proprietor?”When Steps 1 and 2 are completed, you should have decided if there is a market for your product or service which is large enough and sufficiently accessible to make your new business financially worthwhile. Now you are ready to commit your plan to paper.Step 3: Strategy FormulationDecide how the business will operate. You should describe how the business will be managed, and the staff and organisational structure that will be in place. Diagrams may be useful to show how these areas will work. Don’t forget to include the areas of responsibility for each member of staff. This is especially important if some of your staff will be family members.There are three further parts that go together to make a comprehensive business plan:

• A Marketing plan, which includes location, method of selling, packaging, pricing and so on. In all these areas you must be aware of consumer trends to make sure that your business does not become outdated or irrelevant. • An Operational plan, which describes the day-to-day running of the business. You should include supply sources, cost and quantities of materials, processes, equipment and methods of extending the services or products offered. • A Financial plan, which is a master budget for the operation and includes:

– cash flow forecast – balance sheet – profit and loss statement – sources of finance – sales forecast and target. The financial aspects of the plan are most important and you should develop or access financial skills to make sure this part of your plan is accurate and realistic. Don’t forget set-up costs and the money needed to see you through an initial period of low cash flow when calculating your first year’s budget.

Update your Business plan

Nothing remains constant in business; circumstances change, markets change, fashions change, methods change. From time to time you must check your sources of information and reassess your business plan. What is relevant when you start is not necessarily so in five years’ time. You may also need to revise targets and budgets if external factors (such as interest rates) vary.Keep your information up-to-date and be prepared to change as circumstances demand. A business plan should be thought of as flexible, not fixed. If you use these steps to develop a business plan, changing it according to circumstances, you will be well on the way to a successful business.

Unlock your full potential in the IELTS Reading section – Visit our IELTS Reading Practice Question Answer page now!

Age-proofing our brains Reading Answers And Question

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions: IELTS Reading passage – Age-proofing our…

In Praise Of Amateurs Reading Ielts Answers and Questions

The Blog post contains the following IELTS Reading Questions: IELTS Reading passage – In Praise…

Setting up your own business: Reading Answers & PDF

IELTS General Test – Passage 19: Setting up your own business reading with answers explanation, location and pdf summary. This General reading paragraph has been taken from our huge collection of Academic & General Training (GT) Reading practice test PDFs.

Setting up your own business

Here are some ideas about how you should start:

Know your market So you know what you want to sell – the most important thing is that it should be something that people want to buy. Start by thinking about who your target customers are. Are they people who live locally? Are they a particular group of people?

Now look at your competitors. What is different about what you will be doing and how will you persuade people to come to you instead of going to someone who is already established?

How will you reach the customers? Will you promote your product by phoning people, or visiting local traders, or advertising in magazines or online? Will your delivery system be direct or through shops?

How will your business work? Now think about what your business needs to succeed. Do you need to look for premises or can you work from home? Do you need to invest in manufacturing equipment to start with?

Is the business something chat you can do on your own, or if you get more work will you be looking to recruit staff? If so, what skills would they need?

Whether you’re a sole operator or are looking to recruit a team, effective management is essential.

The law regulates how companies are run and you need to set aside the time to see that this is done properly, in relation to issues like accounting, insurance and tax.

The money! As you are working our die prices for your products, you need to make sure you build in all your costs. Remember you will probably need help from an accountant at least once a year, so build that in too, and do a forecast of how much money you think will flow in and out of the business.

Look at what you expect to happen over the next three years — and work out what you need to do to break even, as well as the turnover that you hope to achieve to give you a profit. If you think you will need to find some funding to help get the business off the ground, how much will you need and who will you approach to get it?

Your business plan Now write it all up and call it a business plan.

Questions 22-27

Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.

Step 1: Decide who you are going to sell to and compare yourself with the 22 …………… you are going to have.

Step 2: Consider how you will market your product and your method of 23 …………… .

Step 3: Decide if you will have to find 24 …………… to work in, or buy equipment.

Step 4: Think whether you will need to take on staff as your business grows.

Step 5: Make sure you deal with the accounts and other essentials in accordance with the 25 …………… .

Step 6: Calculate all the 26 …………… involved in your business when deciding how much to charge.

Step 7: Calculate the turnover you are aiming for in order to make a profit in the first three years.

Step 8: Consider if you require any 27 …………… to start your business, and where to find it.

________________

1) IELTS 11 READING PASSAGE – THE SPOON-BILLED SANDPIPER ↗

2) IELTS 11 READING PASSAGE – ANNUAL PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ↗

3) IELTS 11 READING PASSAGE – ORGANISING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS CONFERENCE ↗

4) IELTS 11 READING PASSAGE – CITY PARK & RIDE ↗

5) IELTS 11 READING PASSAGE – SUMMER ACTIVITIES AT LONDON’S KEW GARDENS ↗

Check out Setting up your own business reading answers below with explanations and locations given in the text.

22. competitors 23. delivery 24. premises 25. law 26. costs 27. funding

If you want the pdf summary of Setting up your own business reading passage and answers, please write your email in the comment section below. We’ll send it across at the speed of light.

ALL THE BEST !

2 thoughts on “Setting up your own business: Reading Answers & PDF”

Very useful !

Glad you found it useful!

Business Planning – IELTS General Reading Passage

Read the text below and answers to the questions 28-40 on your answer sheet.

GT Reading: “Business Planning”

Read the text below and answer Question 28-40 .

Business Planning

What is a Business plan? It is probably best described as a summary and evaluation of your business idea, in writing. Preparation of a business plan is the first and most important task for the business starter. The plan should include details concerning the industry in which you operate, your product or service, marketing, production, personnel and financial strategies. What purpose does it serve? A business plan allows you to think through all the factors of a business, and to solve potential problems before you come to them. It will identify strengths and weaknesses and help to assess whether the business can succeed. It is a blueprint for starting, maintaining or expanding a business. It is a working plan to use in comparing your achievements to the goals you set. It should provide information required by financial institutions when finance is sought. How to produce a Business plan Step 1: Collect Information Gather as much relevant information as possible concerning the industry in which you intend to operate (the number of businesses already operating, the size of their operations, where they are located). Use books, industry associations, and existing business owners to help you. Collect all possible information regarding the market/s you are aiming for (who buys, why do they buy, what are the key features the customer looks for). Learn all you can about the product/s or services you intend to produce, distribute or offer. Step 2: Analysis Read over all the material you have collected and decide what is relevant to your business idea. You may have to modify your idea depending on what your research shows. The key question to ask is: “Can you design a business that will earn enough to cover costs and pay a wage and reasonable profit to you as a proprietor?” When Steps 1 and 2 are completed, you should have decided if there is a market for your product or service which is large enough and sufficiently accessible to make your new business financially worthwhile. Now you are ready to commit your plan to paper. Step 3: Strategy Formulation Decide how the business will operate. You should describe how the business will be managed, and the staff and organisational structure that will be in place. Diagrams may be useful to show how these areas will work. Don’t forget to include the areas of responsibility for each member of staff. This is especially important if some of your staff will be family members. There are three further parts that go together to make a comprehensive business plan: • A Marketing plan, which includes location, method of selling, packaging, pricing and so on. In all these areas you must be aware of consumer trends to make sure that your business does not become outdated or irrelevant. • An Operational plan, which describes the day-to-day running of the business. You should include supply sources, cost and quantities of materials, processes, equipment and methods of extending the services or products offered. • A Financial plan, which is a master budget for the operation and includes: – cash flow forecast – balance sheet – profit and loss statement – sources of finance – sales forecast and target. The financial aspects of the plan are most important and you should develop or access financial skills to make sure this part of your plan is accurate and realistic. Don’t forget set-up costs and the money needed to see you through an initial period of low cash flow when calculating your first year’s budget. Update your Business plan Nothing remains constant in business; circumstances change, markets change, fashions change, methods change. From time to time you must check your sources of information and reassess your business plan. What is relevant when you start is not necessarily so in five years’ time. You may also need to revise targets and budgets if external factors (such as interest rates) vary. Keep your information up-to-date and be prepared to change as circumstances demand. A business plan should be thought of as flexible, not fixed. If you use these steps to develop a business plan, changing it according to circumstances, you will be well on the way to a successful business.

Questions 28-34

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the passage “Business Planning?” In boxes 28-34 on your answer sheet write YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 28. A business plan must be written down. 29. Creating a business plan is only necessary for a new business. 30. A business plan should include a diagram of your proposed office or shop layout. 31. A business should generate enough money to pay salaries and some profit to the owner. 32. The roles of family members in the business must be clearly defined in the business plan. 33. You should expect not to earn much money in the first year. 34. Once a business plan is finished, no further changes will need to be made to it.

Questions 35-40

The text describes how to make a business plan.

Choose the correct word or phrase from the box to complete the following flow chart of how to make a business plan.

Write its letter in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.

Answer: 28. YES 29. NOT GIVEN 30. NOT GIVEN 31. YES 32. YES 33. YES 34. NO 35. C 36. J 37. I 38. F 39. H 40. B

Activities for children: ielts academic reading sample question.

Activities for Children A Twenty-five years ago, children in London walked to school and played in parks and playing fields after school and at…

A GUIDE TO WOMENOMICS: IELTS Academic Reading Sample Question

The passage contains following question types from IELTS Reading Question Types: Matching Headings Multiple Choice Question. A Guide To Womenomics You should spend about 20…

school Campus Bookshelves
menu_book Bookshelves
perm_media Learning Objects
login Login
how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
hub Instructor Commons
Download Page (PDF)
Download Full Book (PDF)
Periodic Table
Physics Constants
Scientific Calculator
Reference & Cite
Tools expand_more
Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

12.8: Reading- Create Your Business Plan

Last updated
Save as PDF
Page ID 65930

Executive Summary

This written guide will help you create a business plan and map out how you will start and run your business successfully.

The executive summary is often considered the most important section of a business plan. This section briefly tells your reader where your company is, where you want to take it, and why your business idea will be successful. If you are seeking financing, the executive summary is also your first opportunity to grab a potential investor’s interest.

The executive summary should highlight the strengths of your overall plan and therefore be the last section you write. However, it usually appears first in your business plan document.

Below are several key points that your executive summary should include based on the stage of your business.

If You Are an Established Business

If you are an established business, be sure to include the following information:

The Mission Statement —This explains what your business is all about. It should be between several sentences and a paragraph.
Company Information —Include a short statement that covers when your business was formed, the names of the founders and their roles, your number of employees, and your business location(s).
Growth Highlights —Include examples of company growth, such as financial or market highlights (for example, “XYZ Firm increased profit margins and market share year-over-year since its foundation). Graphs and charts can be helpful in this section.
Your Products/Services —Briefly describe the products or services you provide.
Financial Information —If you are seeking financing, include any information about your current bank and investors.
Summarize future plans —Explain where you would like to take your business.

With the exception of the mission statement, all of the information in the executive summary should be covered in a concise fashion and kept to one page. The executive summary is the first part of your business plan many people will see, so each word should count.

If You Are a Startup or New Business

If you are just starting a business, you won’t have as much information as an established company. Instead, focus on your experience and background as well as the decisions that led you to start this particular enterprise.

Demonstrate that you have done thorough market analysis. Include information about a need or gap in your target market, and how your particular solutions can fill it. Convince the reader that you can succeed in your target market, then address your future plans.

Remember, your Executive Summary will be the last thing you write. So the first section of the business plan that you will tackle is the Company Description section.

Company Description

This section of your business plan provides a high-level review of the different elements of your business. This is akin to an extended elevator pitch and can help readers and potential investors quickly understand the goal of your business and its unique proposition.

What to Include in Your Company Description

Describe the nature of your business and list the marketplace needs that you are trying to satisfy.
Explain how your products and services meet these needs.
List the specific consumers, organizations or businesses that your company serves or will serve.
Explain the competitive advantages that you believe will make your business a success such as your location, expert personnel, efficient operations, or ability to bring value to your customers.

Next, you’ll need to move on to the Market Analysis section of your plan.

Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should illustrate your industry and market knowledge as well as any of your research findings and conclusions.

What to Include in Your Market Analysis

Industry Description and Outlook —Describe your industry, including its current size and historic growth rate as well as other trends and characteristics (e.g., life cycle stage, projected growth rate). Next, list the major customer groups within your industry.
Information About Your Target Market —Narrow your target market to a manageable size. Many businesses make the mistake of trying to appeal to too many target markets. Research and include the following information about your market:
Distinguishing Characteristics —What are the critical needs of your potential customers? Are those needs being met? What are the demographics of the group and where are they located? Are there any seasonal or cyclical purchasing trends that may impact your business?
Size of the Primary Target Market —In addition to the size of your market, what data can you include about the annual purchases your market makes in your industry? What is the forecasted market growth for this group?
How Much Market Share Can You Gain? —What is the market share percentage and number of customers you expect to obtain in a defined geographic area? Explain the logic behind your calculation.
Pricing and Gross Margin Targets —Define your pricing structure, gross margin levels, and any discount that you plan to use.
When you include information about any of the market tests or research studies you have completed, be sure to focus only on the results of these tests. Any other details should be included in the appendix (which we will discuss later).
Market share
Strengths and weaknesses
How important is your target market to your competitors?
Are there any barriers that may hinder you as you enter the market?
What is your window of opportunity to enter the market?
Are there any indirect or secondary competitors who may impact your success?
What barriers to market are there (e.g., changing technology, high investment cost, lack of quality personnel)?
Regulatory Restrictions —Include any customer or governmental regulatory requirements affecting your business, and how you’ll comply. Also, cite any operational or cost impact the compliance process will have on your business.

Once you’ve completed this section, you can move on to the Organization and Management section of your business plan.

Organization and Management

This section should include: your company’s organizational structure, details about the ownership of your company, profiles of your management team, and the qualifications of your board of directors.

Who does what in your business? What is their background and why are you bringing them into the business as board members or employees? What are they responsible for? These may seem like unnecessary questions to answer in a one- or two-person organization, but the people reading your business plan want to know who’s in charge, so tell them. Give a detailed description of each division or department and its function.

This section should include who’s on the board (if you have an advisory board) and how you intend to keep them there. What kind of salary and benefits package do you have for your people? What incentives are you offering? How about promotions? Reassure your reader that the people you have on staff are more than just names on a letterhead.

Organizational Structure

A simple but effective way to lay out the structure of your company is to create an organizational chart with a narrative description. This will prove that you’re leaving nothing to chance, you’ve thought out exactly who is doing what, and there is someone in charge of every function of your company. Nothing will fall through the cracks, and nothing will be done three or four times over. To a potential investor or employee, that is very important.

Ownership Information

This section should also include the legal structure of your business along with the subsequent ownership information it relates to. Have you incorporated your business? If so, is it a C or S corporation? Or perhaps you have formed a partnership with someone. If so, is it a general or limited partnership? Or maybe you are a sole proprietor.

The following important ownership information should be incorporated into your business plan:

Names of owners
Percentage ownership
Extent of involvement with the company
Forms of ownership (i.e., common stock, preferred stock, general partner, limited partner)
Outstanding equity equivalents (i.e., options, warrants, convertible debt)
Common stock (i.e., authorized or issued)
Management Profiles
Experts agree that one of the strongest factors for success in any growth company is the ability and track record of its owner/management team, so let your reader know about the key people in your company and their backgrounds. Provide resumes that include the following information:
Position (include brief position description along with primary duties)
Primary responsibilities and authority
Unique experience and skills
Prior employment
Special skills
Past track record
Industry recognition
Community involvement
Number of years with company
Compensation basis and levels (make sure these are reasonable — not too high or too low)
Be sure you quantify achievements (e.g. “Managed a sales force of ten people,” “Managed a department of fifteen people,” “Increased revenue by 15 percent in the first six months,” “Expanded the retail outlets at the rate of two each year,” “Improved the customer service as rated by our customers from a 60 percent to a 90 percent rating”)

Also, highlight how the people surrounding you complement your own skills. If you’re just starting out, show how each person’s unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture.

Board of Directors’ Qualifications

The major benefit of an unpaid advisory board is that it can provide expertise that your company cannot otherwise afford. A list of well-known, successful business owners/managers can go a long way toward enhancing your company’s credibility and perception of management expertise.

If you have a board of directors, be sure to gather the following information when developing the outline for your business plan:

Positions on the board
Extent of involvement with company
Historical and future contribution to the company’s success

Service or Product Line

Once you’ve completed the Organizational and Management section of your plan, the next part of your business plan is where you describe your service or product, emphasizing the benefits to potential and current customers. Focus on why your particular product will fill a need for your target customers.

What to Include in Your Service or Product Line Section

A Description of Your Product/Service —Include information about the specific benefits of your product or service – from your customers’ perspective. You should also talk about your product or service’s ability to meet consumer needs, any advantages your product has over that of the competition, and the current development stage your product is in (e.g., idea, prototype).
Details About Your Product’s Life Cycle —Be sure to include information about where your product or service is in its life cycle, as well as any factors that may influence its cycle in the future.
Intellectual Property —If you have any existing, pending, or any anticipated copyright or patent filings, list them here. Also disclose whether any key aspects of a product may be classified as trade secrets. Last, include any information pertaining to existing legal agreements, such as nondisclosure or non-compete agreements.
Research and Development (R&D) Activities —Outline any R&D activities that you are involved in or are planning. What results of future R&D activities do you expect? Be sure to analyze the R&D efforts of not only your own business, but also of others in your industry.

Marketing and Sales

Once you’ve completed the Service or Product Line section of your plan, the next part of your business plan should focus on your marketing and sales management strategy for your business.

Marketing is the process of creating customers, and customers are the lifeblood of your business. In this section, the first thing you want to do is define your marketing strategy. There is no single way to approach a marketing strategy; your strategy should be part of an ongoing business-evaluation process and unique to your company. However, there are common steps you can follow which will help you think through the direction and tactics you would like to use to drive sales and sustain customer loyalty.

An overall marketing strategy should include four different strategies:

A market penetration strategy.
A growth strategy. This strategy for building your business might include: an internal strategy such as how to increase your human resources, an acquisition strategy such as buying another business, a franchise strategy for branching out, a horizontal strategy where you would provide the same type of products to different users, or a vertical strategy where you would continue providing the same products but would offer them at different levels of the distribution chain.
Channels of distribution strategy. Choices for distribution channels could include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), an internal sales force, distributors, or retailers.
Communication strategy. How are you going to reach your customers? Usually a combination of the following tactics works the best: promotions, advertising, public relations, personal selling, and printed materials such as brochures, catalogs, flyers, etc.

After you have developed a comprehensive marketing strategy, you can then define your sales strategy. This covers how you plan to actually sell your product.

Your overall sales strategy should include two primary elements:

A sales force strategy. If you are going to have a sales force, do you plan to use internal or independent representatives? How many salespeople will you recruit for your sales force? What type of recruitment strategies will you use? How will you train your sales force? What about compensation for your sales force?
Your sales activities. When you are defining your sales strategy, it is important that you break it down into activities. For instance, you need to identify your prospects. Once you have made a list of your prospects, you need to prioritize the contacts, selecting the leads with the highest potential to buy first. Next, identify the number of sales calls you will make over a certain period of time. From there, you need to determine the average number of sales calls you will need to make per sale, the average dollar size per sale, and the average dollar size per vendor.

Next, if you are seeking financing for your business, you’ll need to complete the next part of your plan—Funding Request.

Funding Request

If you are seeking funding for your business venture, use this section to outline your requirements.

Your funding request should include the following information:

Your current funding requirement
Any future funding requirements over the next five years
How you intend to use the funds you receive: Is the funding request for capital expenditures? Working capital? Debt retirement? Acquisitions? Whatever it is, be sure to list it in this section.
Any strategic financial situational plans for the future, such as: a buyout, being acquired, debt repayment plan, or selling your business. These areas are extremely important to a future creditor, since they will directly impact your ability to repay your loan(s).

When you are outlining your funding requirements, include the amount you want now and the amount you want in the future. Also include the time period that each request will cover, the type of funding you would like to have (e.g., equity, debt), and the terms that you would like to have applied.

To support your funding request you’ll also need to provide historical and prospective financial information. Once you have completed your funding request, move on to the next part of your plan—Financial Projections.

Financial Projections

You should develop the Financial Projections section after you’ve analyzed the market and set clear objectives. That’s when you can allocate resources efficiently. The following is a list of the critical financial statements to include in your business plan packet.

Historical Financial Data

If you own an established business, you will be requested to supply historical data related to your company’s performance. Most creditors request data for the last three to five years, depending on the length of time you have been in business.

The historical financial data to include are your company’s income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for each year you have been in business (usually for up to three to five years). Often, creditors are also interested in any collateral that you may have that could be used to ensure your loan, regardless of the stage of your business.

Prospective Financial Data

All businesses, whether startup or growing, will be required to supply prospective financial data. Most of the time, creditors will want to see what you expect your company to be able to do within the next five years. Each year’s documents should include forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. For the first year, you should supply monthly or quarterly projections. After that, you can stretch it to quarterly and/or yearly projections for years two through five.

Make sure that your projections match your funding requests; creditors will be on the lookout for inconsistencies. It’s much better if you catch mistakes before they do. If you have made assumptions in your projections, be sure to summarize what you have assumed. This way, the reader will not be left guessing.

Finally, include a short analysis of your financial information. Include a ratio and trend analysis for all of your financial statements (both historical and prospective). Since pictures speak louder than words, you may want to add graphs of your trend analysis (especially if they are positive).

Next, you may want to include an Appendix to your plan. This can include items such as your credit history, resumes, letters of reference, and any additional information that a lender may request.

The Appendix should be provided to readers on an as-needed basis. In other words, it should not be included with the main body of your business plan. Your plan is your communication tool; as such, it will be seen by a lot of people. Some of the information in the business section you will not want everyone to see, but specific individuals (such as creditors) may want access to this information to make lending decisions. Therefore, it is important to have the appendix within easy reach.

The appendix would include:

Credit history (personal and business)
Resumes of key managers
Product pictures
Letters of reference
Details of market studies
Relevant magazine articles or book references
Licenses, permits or patents
Legal documents
Copies of leases
Building permits
List of business consultants, including attorney and accountant

Any copies of your business plan should be controlled; keep a distribution record. This will allow you to update and maintain your business plan on an as-needed basis. Remember, too, that you should include a private placement disclaimer with your business plan if you plan to use it to raise capital.

How to Make Your Business Plan Stand Out

One of the first steps to business planning is determining your target market and why they would want to buy from you.

For example, is the market you serve the best one for your product or service? Are the benefits of dealing with your business clear and are they aligned with customer needs? If you’re unsure about the answers to any of these questions, take a step back and revisit the foundation of your business plan.

The following tips can help you clarify what your business has to offer, identify the right target market for it and build a niche for yourself.

Be Clear About What You Have to Offer

Ask yourself: Beyond basic products or services, what are you really selling? Consider this example: Your town probably has several restaurants all selling one fundamental product—food. But each is targeted at a different need or clientele.

One might be a drive-thru fast food restaurant, perhaps another sells pizza in a rustic Italian kitchen, and maybe there’s a fine dining seafood restaurant that specializes in wood-grilled fare. All these restaurants sell meals, but they sell them to targeted clientele looking for the unique qualities each has to offer. What they are really selling is a combination of product, value, ambience and brand experience.

When starting a business, be sure to understand what makes your business unique. What needs does your product or service fulfill? What benefits and differentiators will help your business stand out from the crowd?

Don’t Become a Jack of All Trades—Learn to Strategize

It’s important to clearly define what you’re selling. You do not want to become a jack-of-all trades and master of none because this can have a negative impact on business growth. As a smaller business, it’s often a better strategy to divide your products or services into manageable market niches. Small operations can then offer specialized goods and services that are attractive to a specific group of prospective buyers.

Identify Your Niche

Creating a niche for your business is essential to success. Often, business owners can identify a niche based on their own market knowledge, but it can also be helpful to conduct a market survey with potential customers to uncover untapped needs. During your research process, identify the following:

Which areas your competitors are already well established
Which areas are being ignored by your competitors
Potential opportunities for your business

Check Your Understanding

Answer the question(s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered in this section. This short quiz does not count toward your grade in the class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times.

Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to (1) study the previous section further or (2) move on to the next section.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.com/assessments/195

Contributors and Attributions

Create Your Business Plan. Provided by : U.S. Small Business Association. Located at : https://www.sba.gov/writing-business-plan . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright

6 Questions Every Business Plan Should Answer

An actionable business plan is crucial, whether your business is brand-new or an established player in its field. A business plan is especially vital for SMBs, which often must contend with lower name recognition, fewer loyal customers and other typical business challenges. While it doesn’t guarantee success, creating a business plan with research and care can help a business prepare for any future uncertainties.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners must ensure their business plans address six primary questions. Thinking through these questions and developing potential solutions helps set up your venture for success.

What is a business plan, and why does it matter?

A business plan is a formal document designed to help you set achievable business goals and outline how you’ll accomplish them. The business plan should include various road maps dedicated to the following operational elements:

Product creation
Operational goals

A business plan is a valuable tool internally and externally.

Internal business plan functions: Internally, a business plan helps align its decisions with an overall road map to help it stay on track. Businesses can also use road maps to help think through difficult choices, such as headcount decisions.
External business plan functions: Externally, a road map is critical for securing funding from outside investors like angel investors . A business must demonstrate to investors that it has a solid business plan with achievable goals and a road map to success.

When pitching your business idea to investors , emphasize how your product or service solves a problem and frame your pitch as a story to demonstrate your passion.

What should a business plan include?

Typically, a business plan should include the following elements:

Executive summary. An executive summary highlights a business plan’s essential elements. Readers should be able to understand your business plan by reading your executive summary, even if they don’t read the rest of the document.
Budget. A small business budget should include overall operational and personnel costs. Consider your payroll budget , marketing budget and other departmental budgets.
Market analysis. A market analysis should include a thorough market assessment that identifies competitors, your target customer , customer buying habits, marketing demographics and what customers are willing to pay. A market analysis may include a competitive analysis that dives more deeply into direct and indirect competitors.
Product analysis. A product analysis outlines decisions about optimal product pricing. While you want to sell as many products as possible, low prices can scare off customers and eat into your profit margins, while prices that are too high will have customers turning to your competitors.
Marketing strategy. Your marketing plan should outline how best to market the business and its products or services. Consider digital marketing targeted to specific online and social platforms, email marketing and local marketing.

Business plans vary in length depending on your business’s size, industry and scope. An SMB typically has a shorter and more succinct business plan than a larger, established business that operates across industries.

Collect market intelligence for your business plan by conducting customer surveys and researching social media metrics, competitors’ sales and target customer data.

Questions every business plan should answer

We spoke with six business leaders who shared their thoughts on the crucial questions a business plan should answer. Consider these six essential questions to optimize your business plan.

1. What is the competitive advantage?

Scott Locke, chair of the intellectual property department at Dorf and Nelson LLP, advises thoroughly researching copyright infringement issues when determining your competitive advantage.

“I always look for what will give the business a competitive advantage relative to businesses that want to offer the same or similar goods and services and an analysis of the competitive landscape,” Locke explained. “I pay particular attention as to whether there is valuable intellectual property, be it patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets, that will serve as barriers to entry for competitors. Similarly, I like to see a discussion of the intellectual property of the most direct competitors and how the new business will avoid infringing on it.”

2. Is the business in a growth market?

Walter Recher, principal consultant at SmallBall Marketing, says your business plan should emphasize how you plan to grow your business .

“The key to any successful business is to be a growing company in a growth market. A business plan should articulate how the entrepreneurs will enter the market, apply their investment to prepare them to grow quickly, and participate in the expansion of an industry that is thriving, with a better-than-average growth trajectory,” Recher said. “As I have spent my career working for hyper-growth companies in rapidly expanding markets, a founder of several small businesses and adjunct professor of a course on entrepreneurship, this has been the common denominator.”

3. Will customers pay for it?

Andi Gray, founder and president of Strategy Leaders, advises examining the risks of entrepreneurship and determining what and how customers will pay for their products and services.

“When looking at business plans, I always want to know how the owners plan to get paying customers to engage at a fee and quantity that allows them, as owners, to be in business and sustain themselves,” Gray advised. “My frequently asked question is, ‘How do you plan to feed and clothe yourself, and where do you plan to sleep while you’re getting this venture off the ground?’ My hope is that it will cause the students to consider why they are planning to take the risks of entrepreneurship.”

4. How will the business be staffed?

Larry Holfelder, senior consultant at DJL Insurance Services Inc., emphasizes the importance of staffing considerations.

“In every business plan, I like to see the recognition of the need to cover and staff the production, sales and finance parts of the business. Roles should be established for the entity as if it were mature and successful,” Holfelder advised. “Multiple roles should be assigned at first, if necessary, and filled with the right people as the entity grows and the timing is right.”

Holfelder says thoughtful staffing coverage shows that the business owners are realistic. “I like to see that type of thought process because it shows me they recognize that they won’t be able to do it all themselves and that business success revolves around collaboration and management,” Holfelder said. “It also shows that they recognize their own limitations, their ability to focus on their strengths, and the need to bring in others who know what they don’t in order to reach the goals they envision.”

Consider using a staffing agency if you need to scale quickly and want flexibility and reduced legal risks.

5. Is the product innovative?

Irwin Glenn, chief identity scientist at Hunova, stresses the importance of innovation and inventiveness as well as the team’s level of inspiration.

“Is the idea for the product or service innovative, a unique invention, or is the dream truly inspired? Glenn asked. “By innovative, I want to understand if the business plan is centered around a new twist on already-existing technology or services delivered in a new and compelling way. If inventive, can the idea be protected against new or existing competition? Finally, is the team assembled an excellent group that can’t be stopped from succeeding? Are they inspiring to me, each other, and their marketplace?”

6. Are the plans and goals realistic?

Charles North, former president and CEO of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce, prioritizes a realistic business plan with reasonable expectations.

“I look for it to be a realistic business plan, not something that is pie-in-the-sky. I want to see reasonable expectations,” North explained. “I tend to look more on the conservative side, since I feel that is the safest way to go. The idea doesn’t have to be reasonable; the plan does. The idea can be anything.”

North also emphasizes the importance of sales forecasts . “I always look for projections on what the business will do in the first year, second year, third year and fourth year showing sales, expenses [and the] bottom line as the business progresses. Those assumptions have to be reasonable.”

How planning for success pays off

A great business idea is no guarantee of success, but a solid business plan is a way to start a new business off the right foot and prepare your venture for a lucrative future.

Business plans are a vital resource for businesses of all sizes. While business plans should, at minimum, lay out a series of goals and a road map for achieving them, a business plan should also help answer questions ranging from analyzing a business’ competitive advantages to considering if its goals are realistic.

If you think through these questions while creating your business plan, your business will be in a better position to achieve its goals and weather any challenges it may face.

David Mielach contributed to the reporting and writing in this article.

Building Better Businesses

Insights on business strategy and culture, right to your inbox. Part of the business.com network.

Online Exam Maker
Candidate Management System
Question Bank Software
Online Proctoring Software
Quiz Certification Creator
Online Survey Maker
Online Exam Tools
ELearning Resources
Learning Management
Questions & Answers
Create a Quiz

20 Business Plan Quiz Questions and Answers

A business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines the goals, strategies, and financial projections of a business venture. It serves as a roadmap for entrepreneurs and stakeholders to understand the direction and viability of the business. Here’s an overview of the key components typically included in a business plan:

Executive Summary: This section provides a concise overview of the entire business plan. It highlights the company’s mission, vision, key objectives, and a summary of the proposed business model.

Company Description: Here, you’ll provide a detailed explanation of your business concept. Include the type of business, its legal structure, location, target market, and any unique selling propositions that set your business apart.

Market Analysis: Conduct thorough market research to understand your industry, target market, and competitors. Identify trends, potential opportunities, and challenges. Explain how your product or service will meet the needs of your target audience better than existing solutions.

Organization and Management: Describe the organizational structure of your business, including key team members, their roles, and relevant experience. Investors want to know that you have a capable team driving the venture.

Article overview

Part 1: 30 business plan quiz questions & answers.

1. Question: What is the primary purpose of a business plan? a) Secure funding b) Improve employee morale c) Enhance customer service d) Increase market competition Answer: a) Secure funding

2. Question: Which section of a business plan outlines the company’s mission and vision? a) Marketing strategy b) Financial projections c) Executive summary d) Company overview Answer: d) Company overview

3. Question: Which of the following is NOT a common business plan component? a) Competitive analysis b) SWOT analysis c) Cash flow statement d) Social media strategy Answer: d) Social media strategy

4. Question: What is the purpose of conducting a market analysis in a business plan? a) Determine the company’s competitors b) Develop financial projections c) Define the company’s mission d) Set employee goals Answer: a) Determine the company’s competitors

5. Question: Which section of a business plan highlights the company’s unique selling proposition (USP)? a) Marketing strategy b) Company description c) Competitive analysis d) Financial projections Answer: a) Marketing strategy

6. Question: What financial document shows a company’s revenues and expenses over a specific period? a) Balance sheet b) Cash flow statement c) Income statement d) Profit and loss statement Answer: c) Income statement

7. Question: In a business plan, what does ROI stand for? a) Return on Investment b) Revenue on Investment c) Risk of Inflation d) Rate of Interest Answer: a) Return on Investment

8. Question: Which business plan section outlines the marketing tactics to promote a product or service? a) Financial projections b) Market analysis c) Marketing strategy d) Company overview Answer: c) Marketing strategy

9. Question: What is a break-even analysis used for in a business plan? a) Identifying potential customers b) Calculating potential profits c) Determining the point of profitability d) Analyzing competitor strategies Answer: c) Determining the point of profitability

10. Question: In a business plan, what does the term “SWOT” stand for? a) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats b) Sales, Workforce, Objectives, Technology c) Strategies, Workflow, Operations, Targets d) Success, Wealth, Objectives, Tactics Answer: a) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

11. Question: What is the purpose of an executive summary in a business plan? a) Provide an overview of the company’s history b) Detail the company’s long-term objectives c) Summarize the key points of the entire plan d) Highlight the company’s competitive advantages Answer: c) Summarize the key points of the entire plan

12. Question: Which financing option involves giving up ownership shares of a company in exchange for capital? a) Debt financing b) Equity financing c) Venture capital d) Angel investing Answer: b) Equity financing

13. Question: What does the term “KPI” mean in a business context? a) Key Performance Indicator b) Key Profit Increment c) Key Planning and Implementation d) Key Personnel Improvement Answer: a) Key Performance Indicator

14. Question: What section of a business plan should discuss the company’s organizational structure and management team? a) Market analysis b) Financial projections c) Company overview d) Marketing strategy Answer: c) Company overview

15. Question: What type of business plan primarily targets internal decision-making and planning? a) Startup business plan b) Strategic business plan c) Operational business plan d) Feasibility business plan Answer: c) Operational business plan

Part 2: Download business plan questions & answers for free

Download questions & answers for free

16. Question: What external factor analysis tool helps identify the political, economic, social, and technological influences on a business? a) PEST analysis b) SWOT analysis c) BCG matrix d) Porter’s Five Forces Answer: a) PEST analysis

17. Question: Which statement best describes a vision statement in a business plan? a) Outlines the short-term goals of the company b) Identifies potential risks and challenges c) Describes the company’s future aspirations d) Analyzes the company’s target market Answer: c) Describes the company’s future aspirations

18. Question: What is the purpose of conducting a competitive analysis in a business plan? a) Identify potential partners b) Analyze customer feedback c) Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of competitors d) Forecast financial performance Answer: c) Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of competitors

19. Question: Which financing option involves borrowing money that must be repaid with interest over time? a) Debt financing b) Equity financing c) Venture capital d) Angel investing Answer: a) Debt financing

20. Question: What does the term “ROI” stand for in the context of financial analysis? a) Revenue on Investment b) Return on Innovation c) Risk of Inflation d) Return on Investment Answer: d) Return on Investment

Part 3: Free online quiz creator – OnlineExamMaker

OnlineExamMaker’s secure, powerful web-based quiz maker is an easy-to-use, intelligent online testing software tool for business, training & educational to create exams & quizzes with ease. With its user friendly interface and extensive range of features, OnlineExamMaker simplifies the process of creation and distributing online quizzes to engage learners, improve knowledge retention, and assess performance.

Create Your Next Quiz/Exam with OnlineExamMaker

Flowers are not just beautiful to look at, they are also full of interesting facts…

Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the world, loved by people of…

Athletics is a collection of sporting events that involve running, jumping, and throwing. It is…

Share this post:

Search Search Please fill out this field.

What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, how often should a business plan be updated, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

A business plan is a document that details a company's goals and how it intends to achieve them. Business plans can be of benefit to both startups and well-established companies. For startups, a business plan can be essential for winning over potential lenders and investors. Established businesses can find one useful for staying on track and not losing sight of their goals. This article explains what an effective business plan needs to include and how to write one.

Key Takeaways

A business plan is a document describing a company's business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
For established companies, a business plan can help keep the executive team focused on and working toward the company's short- and long-term objectives.
There is no single format that a business plan must follow, but there are certain key elements that most companies will want to include.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place prior to beginning operations. In fact, banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before they'll consider making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a business isn't looking to raise additional money, a business plan can help it focus on its goals. A 2017 Harvard Business Review article reported that, "Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs."

Ideally, a business plan should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any goals that have been achieved or that may have changed. An established business that has decided to move in a new direction might create an entirely new business plan for itself.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and highlighting any potential obstacles to success. A company might also share its business plan with trusted outsiders to get their objective feedback. In addition, a business plan can help keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and priorities.

Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they often have some of the same basic elements, as we describe below.

While it's a good idea to provide as much detail as necessary, it's also important that a business plan be concise enough to hold a reader's attention to the end.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, it's best to fit the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and attached as appendices.

These are some of the most common elements in many business plans:

Executive summary: This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
Products and services: Here, the company should describe the products and services it offers or plans to introduce. That might include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other factors that could go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any relevant patents the company may have, as well as proprietary technology . Information about research and development (R&D) can also be included here.
Market analysis: A company needs to have a good handle on the current state of its industry and the existing competition. This section should explain where the company fits in, what types of customers it plans to target, and how easy or difficult it may be to take market share from incumbents.
Marketing strategy: This section can describe how the company plans to attract and keep customers, including any anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. It should also describe the distribution channel or channels it will use to get its products or services to consumers.
Financial plans and projections: Established businesses can include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses can provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making.

The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should aim to entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its uniqueness and potential for success.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can take many forms, but they are sometimes divided into two basic categories: traditional and lean startup. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

Traditional business plans : These plans tend to be much longer than lean startup plans and contain considerably more detail. As a result they require more work on the part of the business, but they can also be more persuasive (and reassuring) to potential investors.
Lean startup business plans : These use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans are short—as short as one page—and provide only the most basic detail. If a company wants to use this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or a lender requests it.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan is not a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections to begin with. Markets and the overall economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All of this calls for building some flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on the nature of the business. A well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary. A new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is an option when a company prefers to give a quick explanation of its business. For example, a brand-new company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide yet.

Sections can include: a value proposition ; the company's major activities and advantages; resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital; a list of partnerships; customer segments; and revenue sources.

A business plan can be useful to companies of all kinds. But as a company grows and the world around it changes, so too should its business plan. So don't think of your business plan as carved in granite but as a living document designed to evolve with your business.

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

How to Start a Business: A Comprehensive Guide and Essential Steps 1 of 25
How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example 2 of 25
Marketing Strategy: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Create One 3 of 25
Marketing in Business: Strategies and Types Explained 4 of 25
What Is a Marketing Plan? Types and How to Write One 5 of 25
Business Development: Definition, Strategies, Steps & Skills 6 of 25
Business Plan: What It Is, What's Included, and How to Write One 7 of 25
Small Business Development Center (SBDC): Meaning, Types, Impact 8 of 25
How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan 9 of 25
Business Startup Costs: It’s in the Details 10 of 25
Startup Capital Definition, Types, and Risks 11 of 25
Bootstrapping Definition, Strategies, and Pros/Cons 12 of 25
Crowdfunding: What It Is, How It Works, and Popular Websites 13 of 25
Starting a Business with No Money: How to Begin 14 of 25
A Comprehensive Guide to Establishing Business Credit 15 of 25
Equity Financing: What It Is, How It Works, Pros and Cons 16 of 25
Best Startup Business Loans 17 of 25
Sole Proprietorship: What It Is, Pros and Cons, and Differences From an LLC 18 of 25
Partnership: Definition, How It Works, Taxation, and Types 19 of 25
What Is an LLC? Limited Liability Company Structure and Benefits Defined 20 of 25
Corporation: What It Is and How to Form One 21 of 25
Starting a Small Business: Your Complete How-to Guide 22 of 25
Starting an Online Business: A Step-by-Step Guide 23 of 25
How to Start Your Own Bookkeeping Business: Essential Tips 24 of 25
How to Start a Successful Dropshipping Business: A Comprehensive Guide 25 of 25

Terms of Service
Editorial Policy
Privacy Policy
Your Privacy Choices

How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)

3 years ago

Have you ever wondered how to write a business plan step by step? Mike Andes, told us:

This guide will help you write a business plan to impress investors.

Throughout this process, we’ll get information from Mike Andes, who started Augusta Lawn Care Services when he was 12 and turned it into a franchise with over 90 locations. He has gone on to help others learn how to write business plans and start businesses. He knows a thing or two about writing business plans!

We’ll start by discussing the definition of a business plan. Then we’ll discuss how to come up with the idea, how to do the market research, and then the important elements in the business plan format. Keep reading to start your journey!

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is simply a road map of what you are trying to achieve with your business and how you will go about achieving it. It should cover all elements of your business including:

Finding customers
Plans for developing a team
Competition
Legal structures
Key milestones you are pursuing

If you aren’t quite ready to create a business plan, consider starting by reading our business startup guide .

Get a Business Idea

Before you can write a business plan, you have to have a business idea. You may see a problem that needs to be solved and have an idea how to solve it, or you might start by evaluating your interests and skills.

Mike told us, “The three things I suggest asking yourself when thinking about starting a business are:

What am I good at?
What would I enjoy doing?
What can I get paid for?”

If all three of these questions don’t lead to at least one common answer, it will probably be a much harder road to success. Either there is not much market for it, you won’t be good at it, or you won’t enjoy doing it.

As Mike told us, “There’s enough stress starting and running a business that if you don’t like it or aren’t good at it, it’s hard to succeed.”

If you’d like to hear more about Mike’s approach to starting a business, check out our YouTube video

Conduct Market Analysis

Market analysis is focused on establishing if there is a target market for your products and services, how large the target market is, and identifying the demographics of people or businesses that would be interested in the product or service. The goal here is to establish how much money your business concept can make.

Product and Service Demand

A search engine is your best friend when trying to figure out if there is demand for your products and services. Personally, I love using presearch.org because it lets you directly search on a ton of different platforms including Google, Youtube, Twitter, and more. Check out the screenshot for the full list of search options.

With quick web searches, you can find out how many competitors you have, look through their reviews, and see if there are common complaints about the competitors. Bad reviews are a great place to find opportunities to offer better products or services.

If there are no similar products or services, you may have stumbled upon something new, or there may just be no demand for it. To find out, go talk to your most honest friend about the idea and see what they think. If they tell you it’s dumb or stare at you vacantly, there’s probably no market for it.

You can also conduct a survey through social media to get public opinion on your idea. Using Facebook Business Manager , you could get a feel for who would be interested in your product or service.

I ran a quick test of how many people between 18-65 you could reach in the U.S. during a week. It returned an estimated 700-2,000 for the total number of leads, which is enough to do a fairly accurate statistical analysis.

Identify Demographics of Target Market

Depending on what type of business you want to run, your target market will be different. The narrower the demographic, the fewer potential customers you’ll have. If you did a survey, you’ll be able to use that data to help define your target audience. Some considerations you’ll want to consider are:

Other Interests
Marital Status
Do they have kids?

Once you have this information, it can help you narrow down your options for location and help define your marketing further. One resource that Mike recommended using is the Census Bureau’s Quick Facts Map . He told us,

“It helps you quickly evaluate what the best areas are for your business to be located.”

How to Write a Business Plan

Now that you’ve developed your idea a little and established there is a market for it, you can begin writing a business plan. Getting started is easier with the business plan template we created for you to download. I strongly recommend using it as it is updated to make it easier to create an action plan.

Each of the following should be a section of your business plan:

Business Plan Cover Page
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Company Description
Description of Products and Services

SWOT Analysis

Competitor Data
Competitive Analysis
Marketing Expenses Strategy

Pricing Strategy

Distribution Channel Assessment
Operational Plan
Management and Organizational Strategy
Financial Statements and/or Financial Projections

We’ll look into each of these. Don’t forget to download our free business plan template (mentioned just above) so you can follow along as we go.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 1. Create a Cover Page

The first thing investors will see is the cover page for your business plan. Make sure it looks professional. A great cover page shows that you think about first impressions.

A good business plan should have the following elements on a cover page:

Professionally designed logo
Company name
Mission or Vision Statement
Contact Info

Basically, think of a cover page for your business plan like a giant business card. It is meant to capture people’s attention but be quickly processed.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 2. Create a Table of Contents

Most people are busy enough that they don’t have a lot of time. Providing a table of contents makes it easy for them to find the pages of your plan that are meaningful to them.

A table of contents will be immediately after the cover page, but you can include it after the executive summary. Including the table of contents immediately after the executive summary will help investors know what section of your business plan they want to review more thoroughly.

Check out Canva’s article about creating a table of contents . It has a ton of great information about creating easy access to each section of your business plan. Just remember that you’ll want to use different strategies for digital and hard copy business plans.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 3. Write an Executive Summary

An executive summary is where your business plan should catch the readers interest. It doesn’t need to be long, but should be quick and easy to read.

Mike told us,

How long should an executive summary bein an informal business plan?

For casual use, an executive summary should be similar to an elevator pitch, no more than 150-160 words, just enough to get them interested and wanting more. Indeed has a great article on elevator pitches . This can also be used for the content of emails to get readers’ attention.

It consists of three basic parts:

An introduction to you and your business.
What your business is about.
A call to action

Example of an informal executive summary

One of the best elevator pitches I’ve used is:

So far that pitch has achieved a 100% success rate in getting partnerships for the business.

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

Investors are going to need a more detailed executive summary if you want to secure financing or sell equity. The executive summary should be a brief overview of your entire business plan and include:

Introduction of yourself and company.
An origin story (Recognition of a problem and how you came to solution)
An introduction to your products or services.
Your unique value proposition. Make sure to include intellectual property.
Where you are in the business life cycle
Request and why you need it.

Successful business plan examples

The owner of Urbanity told us he spent 2 months writing a 75-page business plan and received a $250,000 loan from the bank when he was 23. Make your business plan as detailed as possible when looking for financing. We’ve provided a template to help you prepare the portions of a business plan that banks expect.

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

Even though the summary is near the beginning of a business plan, you should write it after you complete the rest of a business plan. You can’t talk about revenue, profits, and expected expenditures if you haven’t done the market research and created a financial plan.

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

Business owners commonly go into too much detail about the following items in an executive summary:

Marketing and sales processes
Financial statements
Organizational structure
Market analysis

These are things that people will want to know later, but they don’t hook the reader. They won’t spark interest in your small business, but they’ll close the deal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

Every business plan should include a company description. A great business plan will include the following elements while describing the company:

Mission statement
Philosophy and vision
Company goals

Target market

Legal structure

Let’s take a look at what each section includes in a good business plan.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is a brief explanation of why you started the company and what the company’s main focus is. It should be no more than one or two sentences. Check out HubSpot’s article 27 Inspiring Mission Statement for a great read on informative and inspiring mission and vision statements.

Company Philosophy and Vision

The company philosophy is what drives your company. You’ll normally hear them called core values. These are the building blocks that make your company different. You want to communicate your values to customers, business owners, and investors as often as possible to build a company culture, but make sure to back them up.

What makes your company different?

Each company is different. Your new business should rise above the standard company lines of honesty, integrity, fun, innovation, and community when communicating your business values. The standard answers are corporate jargon and lack authenticity.

Examples of core values

One of my clients decided to add a core values page to their website. As a tech company they emphasized the values:

Prioritize communication.
Never stop learning.
Be transparent.
Start small and grow incrementally.

These values communicate how the owner and the rest of the company operate. They also show a value proposition and competitive advantage because they specifically focus on delivering business value from the start. These values also genuinely show what the company is about and customers recognize the sincerity. Indeed has a great blog about how to identify your core values .

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement communicate the long lasting change a business pursues. The vision helps investors and customers understand what your company is trying to accomplish. The vision statement goes beyond a mission statement to provide something meaningful to the community, customer’s lives, or even the world.

Example vision statements

The Alzheimer’s Association is a great example of a vision statement:

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

It clearly tells how they want to change the world. A world without Alzheimers might be unachievable, but that means they always have room for improvement.

Business Goals

You have to measure success against goals for a business plan to be meaningful. A business plan helps guide a company similar to how your GPS provides a road map to your favorite travel destination. A goal to make as much money as possible is not inspirational and sounds greedy.

Sure, business owners want to increase their profits and improve customer service, but they need to present an overview of what they consider success. The goals should help everyone prioritize their work.

How far in advance should a business plan?

Business planning should be done at least one year in advance, but many banks and investors prefer three to five year business plans. Longer plans show investors that the management team understands the market and knows the business is operating in a constantly shifting market. In addition, a plan helps businesses to adjust to changes because they have already considered how to handle them.

Example of great business goals

My all time-favorite long-term company goals are included in Tesla’s Master Plan, Part Deux . These goals were written in 2016 and drive the company’s decisions through 2026. They are the reason that investors are so forgiving when Elon Musk continually fails to meet his quarterly and annual goals.

If the progress aligns with the business plan investors are likely to continue to believe in the company. Just make sure the goals are reasonable or you’ll be discredited (unless you’re Elon Musk).

You did target market research before creating a business plan. Now it’s time to add it to the plan so others understand what your ideal customer looks like. As a new business owner, you may not be considered an expert in your field yet, so document everything. Make sure the references you use are from respectable sources.

Use information from the specific lender when you are applying for lending. Most lenders provide industry research reports and using their data can strengthen the position of your business plan.

A small business plan should include a section on the external environment. Understanding the industry is crucial because we don’t plan a business in a vacuum. Make sure to research the industry trends, competitors, and forecasts. I personally prefer IBIS World for my business research. Make sure to answer questions like:

What is the industry outlook long-term and short-term?
How will your business take advantage of projected industry changes and trends?
What might happen to your competitors and how will your business successfully compete?

Industry resources

Some helpful resources to help you establish more about your industry are:

Trade Associations
Federal Reserve
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

There are five basic types of legal structures that most people will utilize:

Sole proprietorships
Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

Franchises.

Each business structure has their pros and cons. An LLC is the most common legal structure due to its protection of personal assets and ease of setting up. Make sure to specify how ownership is divided and what roles each owner plays when you have more than one business owner.

You’ll have to decide which structure is best for you, but we’ve gathered information on each to make it easier.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the easiest legal structure to set up but doesn’t protect the owner’s personal assets from legal issues. That means if something goes wrong, you could lose both your company and your home.

To start a sole proprietorship, fill out a special tax form called a Schedule C . Sole proprietors can also join the American Independent Business Alliance .

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

An LLC is the most common business structure used in the United States because an LLC protects the owner’s personal assets. It’s similar to partnerships and corporations, but can be a single-member LLC in most states. An LLC requires a document called an operating agreement.

Each state has different requirements. Here’s a link to find your state’s requirements . Delaware and Nevada are common states to file an LLC because they are really business-friendly. Here’s a blog on the top 10 states to get an LLC.

Partnerships are typically for legal firms. If you choose to use a partnership choose a Limited Liability Partnership. Alternatively, you can just use an LLC.

Corporations are typically for massive organizations. Corporations have taxes on both corporate and income tax so unless you plan on selling stock, you are better off considering an LLC with S-Corp status . Investopedia has good information corporations here .

There are several opportunities to purchase successful franchises. TopFranchise.com has a list of companies in a variety of industries that offer franchise opportunities. This makes it where an entrepreneur can benefit from the reputation of an established business that has already worked out many of the kinks of starting from scratch.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 5. Products and Services

This section of the business plan should focus on what you sell, how you source it, and how you sell it. You should include:

Unique features that differentiate your business products from competitors
Intellectual property
Your supply chain
Cost and pricing structure

Questions to answer about your products and services

Mike gave us a list of the most important questions to answer about your product and services:

How will you be selling the product? (in person, ecommerce, wholesale, direct to consumer)?
How do you let them know they need a product?
How do you communicate the message?
How will you do transactions?
How much will you be selling it for?
How many do you think you’ll sell and why?

Make sure to use the worksheet on our business plan template .

How to Write a Business Plan Step 6. Sales and Marketing Plan

The marketing and sales plan is focused on the strategy to bring awareness to your company and guides how you will get the product to the consumer. It should contain the following sections:

SWOT Analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Not only do you want to identify them, but you also want to document how the business plans to deal with them.

Business owners need to do a thorough job documenting how their service or product stacks up against the competition.

If proper research isn’t done, investors will be able to tell that the owner hasn’t researched the competition and is less likely to believe that the team can protect its service from threats by the more well-established competition. This is one of the most common parts of a presentation that trips up business owners presenting on Shark Tank .

SWOT Examples

Examples of strengths and weaknesses could be things like the lack of cash flow, intellectual property ownership, high costs of suppliers, and customers’ expectations on shipping times.

Opportunities could be ways to capitalize on your strengths or improve your weaknesses, but may also be gaps in the industry. This includes:

Adding offerings that fit with your current small business
Increase sales to current customers
Reducing costs through bulk ordering
Finding ways to reduce inventory
And other areas you can improve

Threats will normally come from outside of the company but could also be things like losing a key member of the team. Threats normally come from competition, regulations, taxes, and unforeseen events.

The management team should use the SWOT analysis to guide other areas of business planning, but it absolutely has to be done before a business owner starts marketing.

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

When you plan a business, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the competition is key to navigating the field. Providing an overview of your competition and where they are headed shows that you are invested in understanding the industry.

For smaller businesses, you’ll want to search both the company and the owners names to see what they are working on. For publicly held corporations, you can find their quarterly and annual reports on the SEC website .

What another business plans to do can impact your business. Make sure to include things that might make it attractive for bigger companies to outsource to a small business.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing and sales part of business plans should be focused on how you are going to make potential customers aware of your business and then sell to them.

If you haven’t already included it, Mike recommends:

“They’ll want to know about Demographics, ages, and wealth of your target market.”

Make sure to include the Total addressable market . The term refers to the value if you captured 100% of the market.

Advertising Strategy

You’ll explain what formats of advertising you’ll be using. Some possibilities are:

Online: Facebook and Google are the big names to work with here.
Print : Print can be used to reach broad groups or targeted markets. Check out this for tips .
Radio : iHeartMedia is one of the best ways to advertise on the radio
Cable television : High priced, hard to measure ROI, but here’s an explanation of the process
Billboards: Attracting customers with billboards can be beneficial in high traffic areas.

You’ll want to define how you’ll be using each including frequency, duration, and cost. If you have the materials already created, including pictures or links to the marketing to show creative assets.

Mike told us “Most businesses are marketing digitally now due to Covid, but that’s not always the right answer.”

Make sure the marketing strategy will help team members or external marketing agencies stay within the brand guidelines .

This section of a business plan should be focused on pricing. There are a ton of pricing strategies that may work for different business plans. Which one will work for you depends on what kind of a business you run.

Some common pricing strategies are:

Value-based pricing – Commonly used with home buying and selling or other products that are status symbols.
Skimming pricing – Commonly seen in video game consoles, price starts off high to recoup expenses quickly, then reduces over time.
Competition-based pricing – Pricing based on competitors’ pricing is commonly seen at gas stations.
Freemium services – Commonly used for software, where there is a free plan, then purchase options for more functionality.

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

Beyond explaining what strategy your business plans to use, you should include references for how you came to this pricing strategy and how it will impact your cash flow.

Distribution Plan

This part of a business plan is focused on how the product or service is going to go through the supply chain. These may include multiple divisions or multiple companies. Make sure to include any parts of the workflow that are automated so investors can see where cost savings are expected and when.

Supply Chain Examples

For instance, lawn care companies would need to cover aspects such as:

Suppliers for lawn care equipment and tools
Any chemicals or treatments needed
Repair parts for sprinkler systems
Vehicles to transport equipment and employees
Insurance to protect the company vehicles and people.

Examples of Supply Chains

These are fairly flat supply chains compared to something like a clothing designer where the clothes would go through multiple vendors. A clothing company might have the following supply chain:

Raw materials
Shipping of raw materials
Converting of raw materials to thread
Shipping thread to produce garments
Garment producer
Shipping to company
Company storage
Shipping to retail stores

There have been advances such as print on demand that eliminate many of these steps. If you are designing completely custom clothing, all of this would need to be planned to keep from having business disruptions.

The main thing to include in the business plan is the list of suppliers, the path the supply chain follows, the time from order to the customer’s home, and the costs associated with each step of the process.

According to BizPlanReview , a business plan without this information is likely to get rejected because they have failed to research the key elements necessary to make sales to the customer.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 7. Company Organization and Operational Plan

This part of the business plan is focused on how the business model will function while serving customers. The business plan should provide an overview of how the team will manage the following aspects:

Quality Control

Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

Production has already been discussed in previous sections so I won’t go into it much. When writing a business plan for investors, try to avoid repetition as it creates a more simple business plan.

If the organizational plan will be used by the team as an overview of how to perform the best services for the customer, then redundancy makes more sense as it communicates what is important to the business.

Quality control policies help to keep the team focused on how to verify that the company adheres to the business plan and meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Quality control can be anything from a standard that says “all labels on shirts can be no more than 1/16″ off center” to a defined checklist of steps that should be performed and filled out for every customer.

There are a variety of organizations that help define quality control including:

International Organization for Standardization – Quality standards for energy, technology, food, production environments, and cybersecurity
AICPA – Standard defined for accounting.
The Joint Commission – Healthcare
ASHRAE – HVAC best practices

You can find lists of the organizations that contribute most to the government regulation of industries on Open Secrets . Research what the leaders in your field are doing. Follow their example and implement it in your quality control plan.

For location, you should use information from the market research to establish where the location will be. Make sure to include the following in the location documentation.

The size of your location
The type of building (retail, industrial, commercial, etc.)
Zoning restrictions – Urban Wire has a good map on how zoning works in each state
Accessibility – Does it meet ADA requirements?
Costs including rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance and any buildout or remodeling costs
Utilities – b.e.f. has a good energy calculator .

Legal Environment

The legal requirement section is focused on defining how to meet the legal requirements for your industry. A good business plan should include all of the following:

Any licenses and/or permits that are needed and whether you’ve obtained them
Any trademarks, copyrights, or patents that you have or are in the process of applying for
The insurance coverage your business requires and how much it costs
Any environmental, health, or workplace regulations affecting your business
Any special regulations affecting your industry
Bonding requirements, if applicable

Your local SBA office can help you establish requirements in your area. I strongly recommend using them. They are a great resource.

Your business plan should include a plan for company organization and hiring. While you may be the only person with the company right now, down the road you’ll need more people. Make sure to consider and document the answers to the following questions:

What is the current leadership structure and what will it look like in the future?
What types of employees will you have? Are there any licensing or educational requirements?
How many employees will you need?
Will you ever hire freelancers or independent contractors?
What is each position’s job description?
What is the pay structure (hourly, salaried, base plus commission, etc.)?
How do you plan to find qualified employees and contractors?

One of the most crucial parts of a business plan is the organizational chart. This simply shows the positions the company will need, who is in charge of them and the relationship of each of them. It will look similar to this:

Our small business plan template has a much more in-depth organizational chart you can edit to include when you include the organizational chart in your business plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements

No business plan is complete without financial statements or financial projections. The business plan format will be different based on whether you are writing a business plan to expand a business or a startup business plan. Let’s dig deeper into each.

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

An existing business should use their past financial documents including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement to find trends to estimate the next 3-5 years.

You can create easy trendlines in excel to predict future revenue, profit and loss, cash flow, and other changes in year-over-year performance. This will show your expected performance assuming business continues as normal.

If you are seeking an investment, then the business is probably not going to continue as normal. Depending on the financial plan and the purpose of getting financing, adjustments may be needed to the following:

Higher Revenue if expanding business
Lower Cost of Goods Sold if purchasing inventory with bulk discounts
Adding interest if utilizing financing (not equity deal)
Changes in expenses
Addition of financing information to the cash flow statement
Changes in Earnings per Share on the balance sheet

Financial modeling is a challenging subject, but there are plenty of low-cost courses on the subject. If you need help planning your business financial documentation take some time to watch some of them.

Make it a point to document how you calculated all the changes to the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in your business plan so that key team members or investors can verify your research.

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

Unlike an existing business, a startup doesn’t have previous success to model its future performance. In this scenario, you need to focus on how to make a business plan realistic through the use of industry research and averages.

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

One of the things a lot of inexperienced people use is the argument, “If I get one percent of the market, it is worth $100 million.” If you use this, investors are likely to file the document under bad business plan examples.

Let’s use custom t-shirts as an example.

Credence Research estimated in 2018 there were 11,334,800,000 custom t-shirts sold for a total of $206.12 Billion, with a 6% compound annual growth rate.

With that data, you can calculate that the industry will grow to $270 Billion in 2023 and that the average shirt sold creates $18.18 in revenue.

Combine that with an IBIS World estimate of 11,094 custom screen printers and that means even if you become an average seller, you’ll get .009% of the market.

Here’s a table for easier viewing of that information.

The point here is to make sure your business proposal examples make sense.

You’ll need to know industry averages such as cost of customer acquisition, revenue per customer, the average cost of goods sold, and admin costs to be able to create accurate estimates.

Our simple business plan templates walk you through most of these processes. If you follow them you’ll have a good idea of how to write a business proposal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 9. Business Plan Example of Funding Requests

What is a business plan without a plan on how to obtain funding?

The Small Business Administration has an example for a pizza restaurant that theoretically needed nearly $20k to make it through their first month.

In our video, How to Start a $500K/Year T-Shirt Business (Pt. 1 ), Sanford Booth told us he needed about $200,000 to start his franchise and broke even after 4 months.

Freshbooks estimates it takes on average 2-3 years for a business to be profitable, which means the fictitious pizza company from the SBA could need up to $330k to make it through that time and still pay their bills for their home and pizza shop.

Not every business needs that much to start, but realistically it’s a good idea to assume that you need a fairly large cushion.

Ways to get funding for a small business

There are a variety of ways to cover this. the most common are:

Bootstrapping – Using your savings without external funding.
Taking out debt – loans, credit cards
Equity, Seed Funding – Ownership of a percentage of the company in exchange for current funds
Crowdsourcing – Promising a good for funding to create the product

Keep reading for more tips on how to write a business plan.

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

How much to get started?
What is the minimum viable product and how soon can you make money?
How will the money be spent?

Mike emphasized two aspects that should be included in every plan,

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

Here are some links to a business plan sample and business plan outline.

Sample plan

It’s also helpful to follow some of the leading influencers in the business plan writing community. Here’s a list:

Wise Plans – Shares a lot of information on starting businesses and is a business plan writing company.
Optimus Business Plans – Another business plan writing company.
Venture Capital – A venture capital thread that can help give you ideas.

How to Write a Business Plan: What’s Next?

We hope this guide about how to write a simple business plan step by step has been helpful. We’ve covered:

The definition of a business plan
Coming up with a business idea
Performing market research
The critical components of a business plan
An example business plan

In addition, we provided you with a simple business plan template to assist you in the process of writing your startup business plan. The startup business plan template also includes a business model template that will be the key to your success.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our business hub .

Have you written a business plan before? How did it impact your ability to achieve your goals?

Brandon Boushy

Brandon Boushy lives to improve people’s lives by helping them become successful entrepreneurs. His journey started nearly 30 years ago. He consistently excelled at everything he did, but preferred to make the rules rather than follow him. His exploration of self and knowledge has helped him to get an engineering degree, MBA, and countless certifications. When freelancing and rideshare came onto the scene, he recognized the opportunity to play by his own rules. Since 2017, he has helped businesses across all industries achieve more with his research, writing, and marketing strategies. Since 2021, he has been the Lead Writer for UpFlip where he has published over 170 articles on small business success.

September 27, 2023

How to Start a Business: The Ultimate Guide (2024)

August 3, 2022

Free Business Plan Template (With Examples)

May 3, 2022

How to Get a Business License (In 3 Steps)

Join the discussion cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

2 thoughts on “How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)”

My Name is PRETTY NGOMANE. A south African female. Aspiring to do farming. And finding a home away from home for the differently abled persons in their daily needs.

nice work https://binarychemist.com/

Compare listings

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Business English Texts and Articles

Free Business English lessons with texts, articles and exercises to practice English for work. The best way to master a new language is to practice it regularly, and the following Business English sections will help anyone interested in becoming fluent do so, all while mastering terms and phrases commonly used in business today. These texts were made specifically for students learning Business English, and besides being interesting and informative, they include exercises and questions that assure that readers learn as much as possible.

Business vocabulary and commonly used phrases are also detailed in the texts, and all this information - including the texts themselves, the vocabulary, and the questions - can be downloaded for free in PDF form, to be studied at a later time. These Business English sections are sure to help readers enhance their understanding of the English language and be prepared for work and interaction in finance, economics, HR, marketing, and more.

Balance Sheet PREMIUM ? »
B2B versus B2C ? »
Business Competitors PREMIUM ? »
Business Travel PREMIUM ? »
Fixed versus Variable Costs PREMIUM ? »
Insolvency and Bankruptcy PREMIUM ? »
Intellectual Property PREMIUM ? »
Market Share PREMIUM ? »
Supply Chain PREMIUM ? »
SWOT Analysis PREMIUM ? »
Unique Selling Proposition (USP) PREMIUM ? »

Business People

Bill Gates ? »
Henry Ford – Lean Manufacturing ? »
Dave Thomas: Fast Food Giant PREMIUM ? »
Henry Ford: Ford Motor Company PREMIUM ? »
Leonard Lee: The Tool Man PREMIUM ? »
Mark Zuckerberg: The Face of Facebook PREMIUM ? »

Communication

Tips for a good Business Presentation PREMIUM ? »

Conversation on phone

Corporate governance.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) PREMIUM ? »
Risk Analysis – How to make good decisions PREMIUM ? »

Customer service

Complaints in Business PREMIUM ? »
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) PREMIUM ? »
Monopoly and Oligopoly PREMIUM ? »

Entrepreneurship

Business Angel PREMIUM ? »
Pitch Deck PREMIUM ? »

Finance and Investing

Are Unicorns real? PREMIUM ? »
Assets PREMIUM ? »
Bitcoin PREMIUM ? »
Bonds PREMIUM ? »
Commodity Trading PREMIUM ? »
Hedge Funds PREMIUM ? »
Subprime Mortgage Crisis PREMIUM ? »
Take-over PREMIUM ? »

Human Resources (HR)

Getting a new job PREMIUM ? »
Human Resources (HR) PREMIUM ? »
Work-Life Balance PREMIUM ? »

Miscellaneous

Ship Blocks Suez Canal ? »
American Elections PREMIUM ? »
Business Mentors PREMIUM ? »
Businesses for 2021 PREMIUM ? »
Chatbots PREMIUM ? »
Coffee at Work PREMIUM ? »
Customer Service PREMIUM ? »
Digital Detox PREMIUM ? »
Dividends PREMIUM ? »
Forex (FX) PREMIUM ? »
Income Statement PREMIUM ? »
Internet of Things (IOT) PREMIUM ? »
Not everyone can work from home PREMIUM For some professions, working from home is truly impossible. ? »
Plastic Recycling PREMIUM ? »
Profit Margin PREMIUM ? »
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) PREMIUM ? »
Social Media in Business PREMIUM ? »
Thinking Outside of the Box PREMIUM ? »

Welcome Guest!

IELTS Listening
IELTS Reading
IELTS Writing
IELTS Writing Task 1
IELTS Writing Task 2
IELTS Speaking
IELTS Speaking Part 1
IELTS Speaking Part 2
IELTS Speaking Part 3
IELTS Practice Tests
IELTS Listening Practice Tests
IELTS Reading Practice Tests
IELTS Writing Practice Tests
IELTS Speaking Practice Tests
All Courses
IELTS Online Classes
OET Online Classes
PTE Online Classes
CELPIP Online Classes
Free Live Classes
Australia PR
Germany Job Seeker Visa
Austria Job Seeker Visa
Sweden Job Seeker Visa
Study Abroad
Student Testimonials
Our Trainers
IELTS Webinar
Immigration Webinar

The Business of Space Reading Answers

Updated On Mar 27, 2023

Share on Whatsapp

Share on Email

Share on Linkedin

Recent IELTS Reading Test with Answers - Free PDF

The Academic passage, The Business of Space Reading Answers , is a reading passage that consists of 13 questions.

With diligent practice, the Reading Module can be the top-scoring category for IELTS aspirants. To score well, you must understand how to approach and answer the different question types in the Reading Module.

By solving and reviewing Sample Reading questions from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark. Take the reading passage The Business of Space below and try more IELTS reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com.

The question types found in this passage are:

Multiple Choice Question (Q. 14-18)
True/False/Not Given (Q. 19-26)

Reading Passage 2

The business of space.

Up until very recently space travel and exploration were solely the preserve of governments, most notably the Russian and American. However, with the decline of government wealth and the dramatic increase in personal wealth, the whole landscape of space travel is changing.

The first tentative steps into the commercialisation of personal space travel began when billionaire Dennis Tito paid $20 million to ride on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a week’s holiday on a space station. Since then, there have been seven space tourists who have paid large sums of money for a space experience. Yet, collectively, their financial contribution is minute and certainly would not appear to represent a feasible business.

Richard Branson, billionaire and entrepreneur, has formed Virgin Galactic, a spaceship company with some very ambitious plans for space travel. Surprisingly, he is not alone; there are some 12 or 13 other space organizations worldwide with similar plans. Of course, there are setbacks, but Virgin Galactic plan to have to pay flights beginning in late 2017, with tickets at $250,000 each. Expensive? Yes! But there are over 20,000 people who have expressed interest, despite the tragic death of a co-pilot during a test flight accident.

It seems that people who want to take short zero gravity suborbital flights are fully aware of the dangers and are willing to take the risk. It is also worth noting that there were almost 2000 billionaires in the world in 2016, and that number is growing. So entrepreneurs like Richard Branson may represent the tip of the iceberg of young rich investors who want to make their childhood dreams of space travel come true.

Obviously, the key to the success of any business venture is to ensure that the price of the product maximises sales and to reduce the very high costs of the vehicles and rockets needed to do this. Currently, space vehicles can only be used once, so the race is on to develop reusable space vehicles. It is this reusability that will break the ‘cost-barrier’ and bring this activity into the price bracket where middle class and moderately wealthy people can afford it.

So what would you pay for a zero-gravity sub-orbital space trip? A recent, unscientific study, amongst US millennials (people who became adults around the year 2000) suggested that if the price of the flights was reduced by a factor of five – a figure entirely possible given the progress being made with reusable vehicles – the yield would be about $20 billion a year of revenues for the space tourism industry.

Twenty billion dollars is an interesting figure, as it is about the same amount generated each year by the film industry in the US through ticket, DVD and other sales. So now it is possible to make an analogy between the business model of Hollywood and space travel. Which do you think is more expensive? A Hollywood blockbuster, or the cost of a space launch? Back in the 1960s and 1970s, a space launch cost hundreds of times more than a Hollywood film. But as more money came to be spent on Hollywood movies, the cost of space travel has been decreasing. One particularly illustrative example is the comparison between the film Avatar, a movie about life on an ‘exomoon, and the Kepler spacecraft. Both of these costs about $400 million dollars. So for about half a billion dollars, you can either get a film about life on other planets, or you can pay for a mission, which may actually find Earth-like worlds. As a scientist, which is the better deal?

So what really is in the future for space travel? Probably offers of suborbital travel by companies like Virgin Galactic will become fairly common after the initial teething phase is over. Other companies are developing space hotels, so people who can afford more than just the space trips can spend their money holidaying in space. All the technologies allowing this to happen are advancing very rapidly and most of this is happening in the private sector.

Space is going to get commercialised and this may not be a good thing. Do we really want to see massive advertising signs in space? The moon littered with commercial rubbish? If this happens it will be very hard to regulate. While there is in existence a Treaty of the Moon, to acknowledge that no one can own the Moon or Mars, not one space-faring country has signed it.

The future of space travel has never been more exciting than it is now. Young children with pictures of planets and space rockets on their bedroom have a greater chance than ever of actually going into space than ever before. But at what cost?

Questions 14-18

Choose FIVE letters, A-l.

Write the correct letter in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

NB Your answers may be given in any order

Below are listed some popular beliefs about commercial space travel.

Which five of these are reported by the writer of the text?

A Space travel today is no different than space travel in the 1960s.

B To date, the amount of space travel undertaken by private individuals could not sustain a business.

C Richard Branson’s plans for commercial space travel may be described as ‘daring’.

D It is not surprising that Branson’s company is not the only company interested in commercial space travel.

E Virgin Galactic’s proposed fares will be highly affordable to many.

F Individuals who want to fly into space are gamblers.

G Parallels can be drawn between space travel and the Hollywood movie industry.

H The rise of companies like Virgin Galactic is unconditionally positive.

I Laws governing space travel will be difficult to enforce.

14 ……..

15 ……..

16 ……..

17 ……..

18 ……..

Questions 19-26

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?

In boxes 19-26 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

19 Space travel today remains under the control of the Russian and American governments.

20 The first commercial space passenger was Richard Branson.

21 The Virgin Group was established by Richard Branson in 1970.

22 Space vehicles are presently capable of being used more than once.

23 $20 billion is the amount that millennials currently spend on space travel.

24 The film ‘Avatar’ cost about $400 million to make.

25 It is unlikely that recycling will become common practice on the moon.

26 Children today have a better chance of realizing their dreams of space travel than children in the 1960’s did.

Explanation

14 Answer: B

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 2 – line 3

Answer explanation: In the mentioned lines, it is given “ Since then, there have been seven space tourists who have paid large sums of money for a space experience. Yet, collectively, their financial contribution is minute and certainly would not appear to represent a feasible business. ”. In the light of the fact that space travel has been undertaken by many private individuals but could not sustain a feasible business, the answer is B.

15 Answer: C

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 1

Answer explanation: In the mentioned line, it is given “ Richard Branson, billionaire and entrepreneur, has formed Virgin Galactic, a spaceship company with some very ambitious plans for space travel. ”. This reference proves that Richard Branson’s plans for commercial space travel may be described as ‘daring’ (ambitious). Hence, the answer is C.

Unlock Explanations

If you want to have a look at the remaining explanations, sign up!

16 Answer: F

Answer location: Paragraph 4, line 1

Answer explanation: In the fourth paragraph, it is stated that “ It seems that people who want to take short zero gravity suborbital flights are fully aware of the dangers and are willing to take the risk. ” It can be pointed out that people who want to fly into space are aware of the risks involved and still want to take the risk (gambler). Hence, the answer is F.

17 Answer: G

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 7, line 1 – line 2

Answer explanation: Through lines like, “ Twenty billion dollars is an interesting figure, as it is about the same amount generated each year by the film industry in the US through ticket, DVD and other sales. So now it is possible to make an analogy between the business model of Hollywood and space travel. ” , it can be concluded that parallels have been drawn between the business model of space travel and the Hollywood movie industry. Hence, the answer is G.

18 Answer: I

Answer location: Paragraph 9, line 4

Answer explanation: In the mentioned paragraph of the passage, it is noted that, “ While there is in existence a Treaty of the Moon, to acknowledge that no one can own the Moon or Mars, not one space-faring country has signed it. ” . Based on this reference, it can be concluded that laws governing space travel, like the Treaty of the Moon, will be difficult to enforce, as countries will not follow it. Hence, the answer is I.

19 Answer: False

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 1

Answer explanation: In Paragraph 1, it is said that “ Up until very recently space travel and exploration were solely the preserve of governments, most notably the Russian and American. However, with the decline of government wealth and the dramatic increase in personal wealth, the whole landscape of space travel is changing. ”. This points out that even though earlier space travel and exploration was under the control of Russian and American governments, now, due to a decline in wealth, the control is shifting. Hence, the answer is False.

20 Answer: False

Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 1

Answer explanation: The following lines – The first tentative steps into the commercialisation of personal space travel began when billionaire Dennis Tito paid $20 million to ride on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a week’s holiday on a space station. – establishes the fact that Dennis Tito, and not Richard Branson, was the first commercial space passenger. Hence, the answer is False.

21 Answer: Not Given

Answer location: N.A.

Answer explanation: Although there is a mention that the Virgin Group was established by Richard Branson, the specific year of establishment is not mentioned. Hence, the answer is Not Given.

22 Answer: False

Answer location: Paragraph 5, line 2

Answer explanation: In Paragraph 5, it is stated that “ Currently, space vehicles can only be used once, so the race is on to develop reusable space vehicles. ”. This statement indicates that space vehicles are presently incapable of being used more than once and in future, changes are being made. Hence, the answer is False.

23 Answer: False

Answer location: Paragraph 6, line 2

Answer explanation: The given line specifies that “ A recent, unscientific study, amongst US millennials (people who became adults around the year 2000) suggested that if the price of the flights was reduced by a factor of five – a figure entirely possible given the progress being made with reusable vehicles – the yield would be about $20 billion a year of revenues for the space tourism industry. ”. It is indicated that $20 billion is the amount that is generated as an annual revenue for the space tourism industry. Hence, the answer is False.

24 Answer: True

Answer location: Paragraph 7, line 7 – line 8

Answer explanation: The specified line of Paragraph 7 says that “ One particularly illustrative example is the comparison between the film Avatar, a movie about life on an ‘exomoon, and the Kepler spacecraft. Both of these costs about $400 million dollars. ”. It is evident that the film ‘Avatar’ cost about $400 million to make. Hence, the answer is True.

25 Answer: Not Given

Answer explanation: Since there is no reference on whether it is unlikely that recycling will become common practice on the moon or not. Hence, the answer is Not Given.

26 Answer: True

Answer location: Paragraph 10, line 2

Answer explanation: In the mentioned lines, it is reported that “ Young children with pictures of planets and space rockets on their bedroom have a greater chance than ever of actually going into space than ever before. ”. This points to the fact that children today have a better chance of realizing their dreams of space travel than children in the past (1960’s). Hence, the answer is True.

Practice IELTS Reading based on question types

Start Preparing for IELTS: Get Your 10-Day Study Plan Today!

Kasturika Samanta

Kasturika is a professional Content Writer with over three years of experience as an English language teacher. Her understanding of English language requirements, as set by foreign universities, is enriched by her interactions with students and educators. Her work is a fusion of extensive knowledge of SEO practices and up-to-date guidelines. This enables her to produce content that not only informs but also engages IELTS aspirants. Her passion for exploring new horizons has driven her to achieve new heights in her learning journey.

Explore other Reading Practice Tests

IELTS Reading Practice Tests – How to Improve Your Score?

Janice Thompson

The World Is Our Oyster, An Aviation Wonder And Its Creator, Nature’s Most Violent Wind Reading Answers

Courtney Miller

Post your Comments

Our Offices

Gurgaon city scape, gurgaon bptp.

Step 1 of 3

Great going .

Get a free session from trainer

Have you taken test before?

Please select any option

Get free eBook to excel in test

Please enter Email ID

Get support from an Band 9 trainer

Please enter phone number

Already Registered?

Select a date

Please select a date

Select a time (IST Time Zone)

Please select a time

Mark Your Calendar: Free Session with Expert on

Which exam are you preparing?

Great Going!

Chapter 8: Entrepreneurship

Reading: create your business plan, executive summary.

This written guide will help you create a business plan and map out how you will start and run your business successfully.

The executive summary should highlight the strengths of your overall plan and therefore be the last section you write. However, it usually appears first in your business plan document.

Below are several key points that your executive summary should include based on the stage of your business.

If You Are an Established Business

If you are an established business, be sure to include the following information:

The Mission Statement —This explains what your business is all about. It should be between several sentences and a paragraph.
Company Information —Include a short statement that covers when your business was formed, the names of the founders and their roles, your number of employees, and your business location(s).
Growth Highlights —Include examples of company growth, such as financial or market highlights (for example, “XYZ Firm increased profit margins and market share year-over-year since its foundation). Graphs and charts can be helpful in this section.
Your Products/Services —Briefly describe the products or services you provide.
Financial Information —If you are seeking financing, include any information about your current bank and investors.
Summarize future plans —Explain where you would like to take your business.

If You Are a Startup or New Business

Remember, your Executive Summary will be the last thing you write. So the first section of the business plan that you will tackle is the Company Description section.

Company Description

What to Include in Your Company Description

Describe the nature of your business and list the marketplace needs that you are trying to satisfy.
Explain how your products and services meet these needs.
List the specific consumers, organizations or businesses that your company serves or will serve.
Explain the competitive advantages that you believe will make your business a success such as your location, expert personnel, efficient operations, or ability to bring value to your customers.

Next, you’ll need to move on to the Market Analysis section of your plan.

Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should illustrate your industry and market knowledge as well as any of your research findings and conclusions.

What to Include in Your Market Analysis

Industry Description and Outlook —Describe your industry, including its current size and historic growth rate as well as other trends and characteristics (e.g., life cycle stage, projected growth rate). Next, list the major customer groups within your industry.
Information About Your Target Market —Narrow your target market to a manageable size. Many businesses make the mistake of trying to appeal to too many target markets. Research and include the following information about your market:
Distinguishing Characteristics —What are the critical needs of your potential customers? Are those needs being met? What are the demographics of the group and where are they located? Are there any seasonal or cyclical purchasing trends that may impact your business?
Size of the Primary Target Market —In addition to the size of your market, what data can you include about the annual purchases your market makes in your industry? What is the forecasted market growth for this group?
How Much Market Share Can You Gain? —What is the market share percentage and number of customers you expect to obtain in a defined geographic area? Explain the logic behind your calculation.
Pricing and Gross Margin Targets —Define your pricing structure, gross margin levels, and any discount that you plan to use.
When you include information about any of the market tests or research studies you have completed, be sure to focus only on the results of these tests. Any other details should be included in the appendix (which we will discuss later).
Market share
Strengths and weaknesses
How important is your target market to your competitors?
Are there any barriers that may hinder you as you enter the market?
What is your window of opportunity to enter the market?
Are there any indirect or secondary competitors who may impact your success?
What barriers to market are there (e.g., changing technology, high investment cost, lack of quality personnel)?
Regulatory Restrictions —Include any customer or governmental regulatory requirements affecting your business, and how you’ll comply. Also, cite any operational or cost impact the compliance process will have on your business.

Once you’ve completed this section, you can move on to the Organization and Management section of your business plan.

Organization and Management

Organizational Structure

Ownership Information

The following important ownership information should be incorporated into your business plan:

Names of owners
Percentage ownership
Extent of involvement with the company
Forms of ownership (i.e., common stock, preferred stock, general partner, limited partner)
Outstanding equity equivalents (i.e., options, warrants, convertible debt)
Common stock (i.e., authorized or issued)
Management Profiles
Experts agree that one of the strongest factors for success in any growth company is the ability and track record of its owner/management team, so let your reader know about the key people in your company and their backgrounds. Provide resumes that include the following information:
Position (include brief position description along with primary duties)
Primary responsibilities and authority
Unique experience and skills
Prior employment
Special skills
Past track record
Industry recognition
Community involvement
Number of years with company
Compensation basis and levels (make sure these are reasonable — not too high or too low)
Be sure you quantify achievements (e.g. “Managed a sales force of ten people,” “Managed a department of fifteen people,” “Increased revenue by 15 percent in the first six months,” “Expanded the retail outlets at the rate of two each year,” “Improved the customer service as rated by our customers from a 60 percent to a 90 percent rating”)

Also, highlight how the people surrounding you complement your own skills. If you’re just starting out, show how each person’s unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture.

Board of Directors’ Qualifications

If you have a board of directors, be sure to gather the following information when developing the outline for your business plan:

Positions on the board
Extent of involvement with company
Historical and future contribution to the company’s success

Service or Product Line

What to Include in Your Service or Product Line Section

A Description of Your Product/Service —Include information about the specific benefits of your product or service – from your customers’ perspective. You should also talk about your product or service’s ability to meet consumer needs, any advantages your product has over that of the competition, and the current development stage your product is in (e.g., idea, prototype).
Details About Your Product’s Life Cycle —Be sure to include information about where your product or service is in its life cycle, as well as any factors that may influence its cycle in the future.
Intellectual Property —If you have any existing, pending, or any anticipated copyright or patent filings, list them here. Also disclose whether any key aspects of a product may be classified as trade secrets. Last, include any information pertaining to existing legal agreements, such as nondisclosure or non-compete agreements.
Research and Development (R&D) Activities —Outline any R&D activities that you are involved in or are planning. What results of future R&D activities do you expect? Be sure to analyze the R&D efforts of not only your own business, but also of others in your industry.

Marketing and Sales

Once you’ve completed the Service or Product Line section of your plan, the next part of your business plan should focus on your marketing and sales management strategy for your business.

An overall marketing strategy should include four different strategies:

A market penetration strategy.
A growth strategy. This strategy for building your business might include: an internal strategy such as how to increase your human resources, an acquisition strategy such as buying another business, a franchise strategy for branching out, a horizontal strategy where you would provide the same type of products to different users, or a vertical strategy where you would continue providing the same products but would offer them at different levels of the distribution chain.
Channels of distribution strategy. Choices for distribution channels could include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), an internal sales force, distributors, or retailers.
Communication strategy. How are you going to reach your customers? Usually a combination of the following tactics works the best: promotions, advertising, public relations, personal selling, and printed materials such as brochures, catalogs, flyers, etc.

After you have developed a comprehensive marketing strategy, you can then define your sales strategy. This covers how you plan to actually sell your product.

Your overall sales strategy should include two primary elements:

A sales force strategy. If you are going to have a sales force, do you plan to use internal or independent representatives? How many salespeople will you recruit for your sales force? What type of recruitment strategies will you use? How will you train your sales force? What about compensation for your sales force?
Your sales activities. When you are defining your sales strategy, it is important that you break it down into activities. For instance, you need to identify your prospects. Once you have made a list of your prospects, you need to prioritize the contacts, selecting the leads with the highest potential to buy first. Next, identify the number of sales calls you will make over a certain period of time. From there, you need to determine the average number of sales calls you will need to make per sale, the average dollar size per sale, and the average dollar size per vendor.

Next, if you are seeking financing for your business, you’ll need to complete the next part of your plan—Funding Request.

Funding Request

If you are seeking funding for your business venture, use this section to outline your requirements.

Your funding request should include the following information:

Your current funding requirement
Any future funding requirements over the next five years
How you intend to use the funds you receive: Is the funding request for capital expenditures? Working capital? Debt retirement? Acquisitions? Whatever it is, be sure to list it in this section.
Any strategic financial situational plans for the future, such as: a buyout, being acquired, debt repayment plan, or selling your business. These areas are extremely important to a future creditor, since they will directly impact your ability to repay your loan(s).

Financial Projections

Historical Financial Data

Prospective Financial Data

Next, you may want to include an Appendix to your plan. This can include items such as your credit history, resumes, letters of reference, and any additional information that a lender may request.

The appendix would include:

Credit history (personal and business)
Resumes of key managers
Product pictures
Letters of reference
Details of market studies
Relevant magazine articles or book references
Licenses, permits or patents
Legal documents
Copies of leases
Building permits
List of business consultants, including attorney and accountant

How to Make Your Business Plan Stand Out

One of the first steps to business planning is determining your target market and why they would want to buy from you.

The following tips can help you clarify what your business has to offer, identify the right target market for it and build a niche for yourself.

Be Clear About What You Have to Offer

Don’t Become a Jack of All Trades—Learn to Strategize

Identify Your Niche

Which areas your competitors are already well established
Which areas are being ignored by your competitors
Potential opportunities for your business

Check Your Understanding

Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to (1) study the previous section further or (2) move on to the next section.

Create Your Business Plan. Provided by : U.S. Small Business Association. Located at : https://www.sba.gov/writing-business-plan . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright

Senate passes spending bill after deadline, averting shutdown

After hours of gridlock, the Senate approved a $1.2 trillion spending package to avert a partial federal shutdown. Passage came after a 12:01 a.m. deadline, meaning some federal funding technically expired, briefly. The White House said President Biden will sign the bill later Saturday.

Senate passes $1.2 trillion spending bill, averting government shutdown
Senate reaches deal to limit debate, vote on spending bill
What’s in this $1.2 trillion bill?

Here's what to know:

Here's what to know, live coverage contributors 15.

2:12 a.m. EDT Bullet Key update 2:12 a.m. EDT

12:20 a.m. EDT 12:20 a.m. EDT

12:00 a.m. EDT 12:00 a.m. EDT

11:51 p.m. EDT Bullet Key update 11:51 p.m. EDT

11:22 p.m. EDT 11:22 p.m. EDT

Biden signs $1.2 trillion spending bill into law, averting government shutdown March 23, 2024 Biden signs $1.2 trillion spending bill into law, averting government shutdown March 23, 2024
How every senator voted on the budget bill to avert a government shutdown March 23, 2024 How every senator voted on the budget bill to avert a government shutdown March 23, 2024
How every House member voted on the budget bill to avert a shutdown March 22, 2024 How every House member voted on the budget bill to avert a shutdown March 22, 2024

11:16 p.m. EDT 11:16 p.m. EDT

11:09 p.m. EDT 11:09 p.m. EDT

11:00 p.m. EDT 11:00 p.m. EDT

10:25 p.m. EDT 10:25 p.m. EDT

9:06 p.m. EDT 9:06 p.m. EDT

8:58 p.m. EDT 8:58 p.m. EDT

7:39 p.m. EDT 7:39 p.m. EDT

7:35 p.m. EDT 7:35 p.m. EDT

6:37 p.m. EDT 6:37 p.m. EDT

5:52 p.m. EDT 5:52 p.m. EDT

5:31 p.m. EDT 5:31 p.m. EDT

4:13 p.m. EDT 4:13 p.m. EDT

3:46 p.m. EDT 3:46 p.m. EDT

3:35 p.m. EDT 3:35 p.m. EDT

3:26 p.m. EDT 3:26 p.m. EDT

3:02 p.m. EDT Bullet Key update 3:02 p.m. EDT

2:49 p.m. EDT 2:49 p.m. EDT

2:35 p.m. EDT 2:35 p.m. EDT

2:15 p.m. EDT 2:15 p.m. EDT

1:54 p.m. EDT 1:54 p.m. EDT

1:43 p.m. EDT 1:43 p.m. EDT

1:30 p.m. EDT 1:30 p.m. EDT

1:11 p.m. EDT 1:11 p.m. EDT

12:48 p.m. EDT 12:48 p.m. EDT

12:42 p.m. EDT 12:42 p.m. EDT

12:30 p.m. EDT 12:30 p.m. EDT

12:24 p.m. EDT 12:24 p.m. EDT

12:10 p.m. EDT 12:10 p.m. EDT

12:02 p.m. EDT Bullet Key update 12:02 p.m. EDT

11:55 a.m. EDT 11:55 a.m. EDT

11:49 a.m. EDT 11:49 a.m. EDT

11:46 a.m. EDT Bullet Key update 11:46 a.m. EDT

11:40 a.m. EDT 11:40 a.m. EDT

11:30 a.m. EDT 11:30 a.m. EDT

11:21 a.m. EDT 11:21 a.m. EDT

11:17 a.m. EDT 11:17 a.m. EDT

11:05 a.m. EDT 11:05 a.m. EDT

11:02 a.m. EDT 11:02 a.m. EDT

10:58 a.m. EDT 10:58 a.m. EDT

10:53 a.m. EDT 10:53 a.m. EDT

10:45 a.m. EDT 10:45 a.m. EDT

10:44 a.m. EDT 10:44 a.m. EDT

10:41 a.m. EDT 10:41 a.m. EDT

10:36 a.m. EDT 10:36 a.m. EDT

10:30 a.m. EDT 10:30 a.m. EDT

10:26 a.m. EDT 10:26 a.m. EDT

10:21 a.m. EDT 10:21 a.m. EDT

10:18 a.m. EDT 10:18 a.m. EDT

10:11 a.m. EDT 10:11 a.m. EDT

10:03 a.m. EDT 10:03 a.m. EDT

9:55 a.m. EDT 9:55 a.m. EDT

9:40 a.m. EDT 9:40 a.m. EDT

9:23 a.m. EDT 9:23 a.m. EDT

9:13 a.m. EDT 9:13 a.m. EDT

9:02 a.m. EDT 9:02 a.m. EDT

9:00 a.m. EDT 9:00 a.m. EDT

8:47 a.m. EDT 8:47 a.m. EDT

8:40 a.m. EDT 8:40 a.m. EDT

8:30 a.m. EDT 8:30 a.m. EDT

8:23 a.m. EDT 8:23 a.m. EDT

8:15 a.m. EDT 8:15 a.m. EDT

8:10 a.m. EDT 8:10 a.m. EDT

Government shutdown: What to know

The latest: The Senate approved a $1.2 trillion spending bill in the wee hours of Saturday morning to prevent a brief partial government shutdown, sending the bill to President Biden to sign into law. See how every Senate and House member voted .

What would be affected in a shutdown? The funding that was set to expire on March 22 covers agencies that represent roughly 70 percent of the federal government . If the partial government shutdown lasted past the weekend it would affect a wide range of crucial federal services and thousands of employees. When funding lapses, many government workers are furloughed until their agencies reopen. Certain federal workers — mostly those involved in national security or vital economic activity — continue working unpaid.

History of shutdowns: Which president had the most shutdowns? Here’s a look at the shortest and longest government shutdowns in U.S. history.

Supported by

A Total Solar Eclipse Is Coming. Here’s What You Need to Know.

These are answers to common questions about the April 8 eclipse, and we’re offering you a place to pose more of them.

Share full article

The sun flares at the edge of the moon during a total eclipse.

By Katrina Miller

On April 8, North America will experience its second total solar eclipse in seven years. The moon will glide over the surface of our sun, casting a shadow over a swath of Earth below. Along this path, the world will turn dark as night.

Skywatchers in Mexico will be the first to see the eclipse on the mainland. From there, the show will slide north, entering the United States through Texas, then proceeding northeast before concluding for most people off the coast of Canada.

Why eclipses happen is simple: the moon comes between us and the sun. But they are also complicated. So if you’ve forgotten all of your eclipse facts, tips and how-to’s since 2017, we’re here to explain it for you.

But before we dive in, there is one thing to know that is more important than anything else: It is never safe to look directly at the sun during an eclipse (except for the few moments when the moon has fully obscured its surface). At all other times, watch the event through protective eye equipment . Read on to learn about how to watch an eclipse safely.

What is a total solar eclipse?

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon orients itself between Earth and the sun, shielding the solar surface from our view.

In cosmic terms, it is unusual that this happens: the moon is about 400 times smaller than the sun, but it is about 400 times closer to us. That means that when these two celestial bodies are aligned, they appear to be the same size in the sky.

What other types of eclipses are there?

Annular solar eclipses occur when the moon is farther from Earth and appears too small to completely shield the sun’s surface. Instead, the outer part of the solar disk remains uncovered — a “ring of fire” in the sky.

Partial solar eclipses happen when Earth, the moon and the sun are imperfectly aligned. The moon only obscures a chunk of the sun. There will be two in 2025.

Earth can also get between the moon and the sun, creating a lunar eclipse. This can be observed once or twice a year .

How dark will it be during the eclipse?

In any given place along the eclipse path , the event will last around two hours or more.

The event will commence with a partial solar eclipse, as the moon takes a small bite out of the sun’s edge, then consumes more and more of its surface. According to NASA , this can last anywhere from 70 to 80 minutes.

The phase of the eclipse where the moon has completely blocked the sun’s surface is called totality. This is the only time the event can be viewed with the naked eye.

The length of totality varies by location. In April, some places will experience this phase for more than four minutes; others, for only one to two minutes.

During totality, the sky will get dark as night and the temperature will drop. Wispy white strings of light from the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, will suddenly be visible. Lucky viewers may even spot a thin, reddish-pink circle around the edge of the moon. That’s the chromosphere, an atmospheric layer below the sun’s corona. Its color comes from the presence of hydrogen throughout the layer.

After totality, the sun will slowly peek out from behind the moon again — another partial eclipse that will last the same amount of time as the first one. The moon will recede until the sun is back to normal brightness in our sky.

How can I watch the solar eclipse safely?

In general, avoid looking directly at the sun without special equipment to protect your eyes. Inexpensive options for watching the eclipse include paper solar viewers and glasses. If you are using equipment purchased for a past solar eclipse, make sure to inspect it. Toss anything with scratches or other signs of damage.

According to NASA , it is not safe to look at the sun through any optical device while using paper glasses or viewers. To watch the eclipse through cameras, binoculars or telescopes, buy a special solar filter.

The only time you can view a solar eclipse with the naked eye is during the moments of totality. Once the moon begins to reveal the surface of the sun again, return to watching the event through protective equipment to avoid injury.

What happens if I look at the eclipse without protection?

In general, staring directly at the sun, even for a few seconds, can cause permanent damage to your eyes . This can range from blurry or distorted vision to something even more serious, like blind spots. Because there are no pain receptors in the retina, you won’t feel it while it’s happening.

The same is true during an eclipse — except during the brief moments of totality, when the moon has hidden the face of the sun. At all other times, use protective eye equipment to view the event.

What do I do if I can’t find eclipse glasses?

If it’s too late to get glasses or viewers, there’s always a do-it-yourself option: a pinhole camera to indirectly experience the eclipse. You can create one using cardstock , a cardboard box , a kitchen strainer or even your fingers . These designs project an image of the eclipse onto the ground or some other surface that is safe to look at.

Where are the best places to watch the eclipse?

The total eclipse will sweep across large portions of Mexico, the United States and eastern Canada. For the most dramatic show, it’s best to experience the eclipse along the path of totality , which is where the moon will completely blot out the sun.

The Path of the Eclipse

On April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North America from Mazatlán, Mexico, to the Newfoundland coast near Gander, Canada. Viewers outside the path of the total eclipse will see a partial eclipse, if the sky is clear .

Percentage of

the sun obscured

during the eclipse

Indianapolis

Little Rock

San Antonio

Viewers near Mazatlán, a beach town on the Pacific shoreline of Mexico, will be the first place to experience totality on North America’s mainland. Various sites in Mexico along the eclipse’s path will experience the longest duration of totality — as long as four minutes and 29 seconds.

Cities across the United States, including Dallas, Indianapolis and Cleveland, will most likely be hot spots for the upcoming eclipse. Other notable locations include Carbondale, Ill., which also saw totality during the solar eclipse in 2017; small towns west of Austin, Texas, which are projected to have some of the best weather in the country along the eclipse path; and Niagara Falls, if the skies are clear. Six provinces of Canada are in the path of totality, but many of them have a very cloudy outlook.

When does the eclipse begin and end?

The show begins at dawn, thousands of miles southwest of the Pacific shore of Mexico. The moon starts to conceal the sun near Mazatlán at 9:51 a.m. local time. Viewers near Mazatlán will experience totality at 11:07 a.m. for four minutes and 20 seconds.

Then the moon’s shadow will swoop through Mexico, crossing over the Texas border at 1:10 p.m. Eastern time. Totality in the United States will start at 2:27 p.m. and end at 3:33 p.m. Eastern time.

Canadians will experience the solar eclipse in the afternoon for nearly three hours. The eclipse concludes beyond Canada’s boundaries when the sun sets over the Atlantic Ocean.

How long will the eclipse last?

The duration of totality depends on how far a given location on Earth is from the moon. Places with the longest totality are closest to the moon and farther from the sun. The speed of the lunar shadow is slowest over spots with the longest totality.

In April, the longest period of totality will occur over Durango, a state in Mexico, for a total of four minutes and 29 seconds. Along the centerline, the location of shortest totality on land is on the eastern coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, for about two minutes and 54 seconds. But totality is even shorter along the edges of the total eclipse path; in some places, it lasts less than a minute.

How fast does the eclipse move?

Solar eclipses may seem to happen slowly, but the moon’s shadow is racing across the surface of Earth. Exact speeds vary by location. Eclipse calculators estimate the shadow will move between about 1,560 and 1,600 m.p.h. through Mexico, and more than 3,000 m.p.h. by the time it exits the United States. The eclipse will reach speeds exceeding 6,000 m.p.h. over the Atlantic Ocean.

When was the last total solar eclipse in the United States?

According to the American Astronomical Society , total solar eclipses happen once every year or so, but they can only be viewed along a narrow path on Earth’s surface. Many occur over water or other places that can be difficult to reach. A given location will experience totality once in about 400 years.

But some places get lucky: Carbondale, a college town in southern Illinois, saw the total solar eclipse in the United States on Aug. 21, 2017, and will experience another one this April. San Antonio experienced an annular eclipse last October, and is also in the path of totality for this year’s eclipse.

Do other planets experience solar eclipses?

Yes, any planet in our solar system with a moon can experience a solar eclipse. In February, a Martian rover captured Phobos , one of the red planet’s moons, transiting the sun.

The moons on other planets, though, appear either smaller or larger than the sun in the sky . Only Earth has a moon just the right size and at just the right distance to produce the unique effects of totality.

How will things on Earth change during the eclipse?

As the eclipse approaches its maximum phase, the air will get cooler, the sky will grow dimmer, shadows will sharpen and you might notice images of crescents — tiny projections of the eclipse — within them. Along the path of totality, the world will go dark while the moon inches toward perfect alignment with Earth and the sun.

Animals will also react to the solar eclipse. Bees stop buzzing , birds stop whistling and crickets begin chirping. Some pets may express confusion . Even plants are affected, scientists found after the solar eclipse in 2017 . They have diminished rates of photosynthesis and water loss similar to, though not as extreme as, what happens at night.

What if I can’t get to the path of totality?

Viewers in locations away from the eclipse path will see the moon partially blot out the sun, though how perceptible the effects are depends on the site’s distance from the centerline. (The closer you are, the more remarkable it will be.) Still, it won’t be quite like experiencing the eclipse during totality.

Remember that you should always wear protective eye equipment while watching a partial eclipse.

If you can’t make it to the path of totality but still want to experience it, many organizations are providing live video streams of the eclipse, including NASA and Time and Date . The Exploratorium, a museum in San Francisco, will also offer a sonification of the eclipse and a broadcast in Spanish.

What have we learned from solar eclipses?

In the 1800s, a French astronomer discovered the element helium by studying the spectrum of sunlight emitted during an eclipse. These events also allowed the first scientific observations of coronal mass ejections — violent expulsions of plasma from the sun’s corona — which can cause power outages and communication disruptions on Earth. Scientists also confirmed Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which says that massive objects bend the fabric of space-time, during a solar eclipse in 1919.

And there is more to discover. This April, NASA plans to fly instruments on planes to capture images of the solar corona, and launch rockets to study how the drop in sunlight during an eclipse affects Earth’s atmosphere. A radio telescope in California will try to use the moon as a shield to measure emissions from individual sunspots .

The public is joining the fun, too. During the eclipse, a team of ham radio operators will beam signals across the country to study how solar disturbances can affect communications. Some people along the path of totality will record sounds from wildlife . Others will use their phones to snap pictures of the eclipse to help sketch out the shape of the solar disk .

An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to eclipse on other worlds. Some appear larger than the sun in sky, they are not all partial eclipses.

How we handle corrections

Katrina Miller is a science reporting fellow for The Times. She recently earned her Ph.D. in particle physics from the University of Chicago. More about Katrina Miller

International edition
Australia edition
Europe edition

a balding man in a suit and tie in an elevator

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down in wake of cabin panel blowout

Calhoun announces plans to resign amid biggest safety crisis for Boeing since crashes of two of its Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019

The CEO of Boeing has announced plans to resign amid a sweeping overhaul of the planemaker’s management as it fights to repair its reputation following a terrifying cabin panel blowout.

Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of this year. Larry Kellner, chair of Boeing’s board of directors, will also leave the role.

Calhoun plans to “complete the critical work under way to stabilize and position the company for the future” over the coming months, it said.

Boeing has scrambled to reassure regulators, airlines and passengers since a brand-new 737 Max 9 jet was forced into an emergency landing in January.

The dramatic incident during an Alaska Airlines flight – which prompted 171 Max 9 jets to be grounded for several weeks – has sparked the biggest safety crisis for Boeing since the crashes of two of its Max 8 jets, in 2018 and 2019, in which 346 people were killed.

Stan Deal, who leads Boeing’s commercial airplanes business, has also left the job with immediate effect. He has been replaced by Stephanie Pope, the group’s chief operating officer.

“The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,” Calhoun said. “We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do.”

Steve Mollenkopf, who has been on Boeing’s board of directors since 2020, has been lined up to replace Kellner as its chair. Mollenkopf will lead the search for Calhoun’s replacement.

Those who last recruited a CEO for Boeing did not look far. Calhoun, who took the job in January 2020, was a veteran of the group’s board, and served as chairman for a few months the previous year.

“I want to thank Dave for his tremendous leadership of our company,” said Kellner, “and I know he will finish the job this year that he started in 2020 to position Boeing, and our employees, for a stronger future.”

Shares in Boeing opened higher in New York on Monday, before losing ground. By late morning, they were up by 1%.

The group’s stock has come under pressure in recent months, falling by about a quarter since the turn of the year as the Alaska incident renewed questions about the quality of its planes. Regulators and airlines have been demanding answers.

An initial report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found the cabin panel that blew off Alaska’s new Max 9 jet in January appeared to be missing four key bolts . The agency publicly criticized Boeing this month for failing to disclose details linked to its investigation.

Boeing claimed it had been cooperating “fully and transparently” with the NTSB. After the agency published its preliminary report, Calhoun said Boeing was “squarely focused” on strengthening quality and confidence.

The Federal Aviation Administration conducted a six-week audit of Boeing’s production line which found multiple compliance failures. The US Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation into the 5 January incident.

after newsletter promotion

Calhoun, who was quick to acknowledge Boeing had “much to prove” following the panel blowout, was himself appointed four years ago after the group faced intense criticism for its response to the fatal Max 8 crashes of 2018 and 2019.

On his watch, however, the planemaker faced another severe crisis as Covid-19 swept the world. The global travel industry was upended during the early months of the pandemic, before entering recovery mode. Shares in Boeing, however, have yet to return to the levels at which they traded before March 2020.

Key customers welcomed news of the company’s management overhaul. The changes were “much-needed”, according to Michael O’Leary, boss of Ryanair. Focus will now turn to who Boeing will select as its next boss.

While Calhoun, 66, refrained from commenting on who should succeed him as CEO, his message to employees announcing his exit included a striking endorsement of Pope – a company veteran widely deemed to be in the running – who is taking charge of its commercial airplanes business.

“With nearly 30 years of experience at Boeing, including her successful tenure leading our global services business, Stephanie knows our company inside and out,” Calhoun wrote, “and has a proven track record of superb leadership, including an innate talent for listening and responding to our people.”

Pope was “deeply committed” to Boeing, “our employees and to our shared future”, Calhoun wrote: the “perfect person to take on the leadership of our commercial airplanes business at this moment”.

Justin Green, an attorney at Kreindler & Kreindler who represents 34 families who lost loved ones on Ethiopian Flight 302, which crashed in 2019, said Calhoun’s departure was “positive” but “quite late”.

“The next CEO must know that his or her role will be to prioritize safety, not just profit,” added Green. “For too long, Boeing has been avoiding public accountability and these leadership changes open a window for the company to do so.”

Airline industry

Most viewed

IMAGES

Guided Reading Activity 3 2 Business Growth And Expansion Answers
book review ielts reading answers
SAT Reading Workbook Past Exam Questions
Answers to Business Studies Worksheet questions
Business plan- reading
(PDF) PLAN Reading strategy

VIDEO

Business Progress Technique || Professional Business Plan
Important Business Idea || Growing Business Plan for Beginners
Low Competition Business Idea
No investment Business Plan || Business Starting Ideas for Beginners
New BUSINESS ପେଲା ଲେଲି କରି PLAN DISCUSSION || Business Development Idea
ଟୋକାକୁ ପଟେଇ ପେଲିବାକୁ କହିଲା

COMMENTS

GT Reading Test 30 Section 3
28. A business plan must be written down. 29. Creating a business plan is only necessary for a new business. 30. A business plan should include a diagram of your proposed office or shop layout. 31. A business should generate enough money to pay salaries and some profit to the owner. 32.
Business Planning Reading Questions and Answers
Creating a business plan is only necessary for a new business. 30. A business plan should include a diagram of your proposed office or shop layout. 31. A business should generate enough money to pay salaries and some profit to the owner. 32. The roles of family members in the business must be clearly defined in the business plan. 33.
CREATING A BUSINESS PLAN Flashcards
1) Define objective. 2) Determine strategy to gain and keep customer. 3) Implement through tactics (sp actions) Marketing Plan Example: Objective: to be perceived as the restaurant of choice. Strategy: to give customers a better value. Tactics (flow from strategy) -Have table ready for reservations.
Business Planning
Explanation: A business plan can be used to help set goals, resolve disputes, and ensure that the company is on track to remain successful. The business plan is an important task for the business starter. so the answer is yes the business plan has to be written. Question.29. The creation of a business plan is only necessary for a new business.
Setting up your own business: Reading Answers & PDF
IELTS General Test - Passage 19: Setting up your own business reading with answers explanation, location and pdf summary. This General reading paragraph has been taken from our huge collection of Academic & General Training ... Your business plan Now write it all up and call it a business plan. Questions 22-27. Complete the sentences below.
Business Planning
A business should generate enough money to pay salaries and some profit to the owner. 32. The roles of family members in the business must be clearly defined in the business plan. 33. You should expect not to earn much money in the first year. 34. Once a business plan is finished, no further changes will need to be made to it. Questions 35-40 ...
12.8: Reading- Create Your Business Plan
The executive summary is often considered the most important section of a business plan. This section briefly tells your reader where your company is, where you want to take it, and why your business idea will be successful. If you are seeking financing, the executive summary is also your first opportunity to grab a potential investor's interest.
How to Write a Business Plan: 11 Sections to Include, plus Tips for Authors
7. Finance. Your financial section must display the financial viability of the business. Show your business can make a healthy profit and can afford to pay interest or profits to investors or lenders. Most business plans should include a full pro forma balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows.
What to Include in Your Business Plan
The business plan should include various road maps dedicated to the following operational elements: Finances. Product creation. Marketing. Operational goals. A business plan is a valuable tool ...
How To Write A Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide
1. Investors Are Short On Time. If your chief goal is using your business plan to secure funding, then it means you intend on getting it in front of an investor. And if there's one thing investors are, it's busy. So keep this in mind throughout writing a business plan.
Reading: Create Your Business Plan
Any strategic financial situational plans for the future, such as: a buyout, being acquired, debt repayment plan, or selling your business. When you are outlining your funding requirements, include the amount you want now and the amount you want in the future. Also include the time period that each request will cover, the type of funding you ...
How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)
Describe Your Services or Products. The business plan should have a section that explains the services or products that you're offering. This is the part where you can also describe how they fit ...
Reading: Planning
Reading: Planning. Planning is a process of thinking about and organizing the activities needed to achieve a desired goal. By now you are familiar with the most encompassing of all organizational planning: the business plan. The business plan provides the foundation for ongoing planning activities, but as the business grows and develops, it's ...
Business Plan Quiz Prep Flashcards
Terms in this set (16) business plan. written description of a new business venture that describes all aspects of the business. executive summary. brief account of the key points in the business plan. management team plan. presents your qualifications and those of any partners you may have, say how to fill gaps of expertise. company descripiton ...
20 Business Plan Quiz Questions and Answers
Part 1: 30 business plan quiz questions & answers. 1. Question: What is the primary purpose of a business plan? a) Secure funding. b) Improve employee morale. c) Enhance customer service. d) Increase market competition. Answer: a) Secure funding. 2.
How to Prepare for an Interview & Setting up Your Own Business Reading
The How to Prepare for an Interview Reading Answers, which is a part of the IELTS Cambridge 11 Reading Test 4 and is an IELTS General reading test, comprises two passages: How to Prepare for an Interview and Setting up Your Own Business. Ideally, you should not spend more than 20 minutes on both these passages.
Business Plan: What It Is, What's Included, and How to Write One
Business Plan: A business plan is a written document that describes in detail how a business, usually a new one, is going to achieve its goals. A business plan lays out a written plan from a ...
Business Plan: What It Is + How to Write One
And How to Create One. 1. Executive summary. This is a short section that introduces the business plan as a whole to the people who will be reading it, including investors, lenders, or other members of your team. Start with a sentence or two about your business, your goals for developing it, and why it will be successful.
How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)
How to Write a Business Plan Step 1. Create a Cover Page. The first thing investors will see is the cover page for your business plan. Make sure it looks professional. A great cover page shows that you think about first impressions. A good business plan should have the following elements on a cover page:
3.) Creating a Business Plan
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like A business plan is best described as: a) A 30-second pitch given to investors b) The historical record of what's been done with the business so far c) A blueprint for the business d) A projection of all possible future scenarios, A business plan is useful to: a) Think through all aspects of the business b) Secure financing c) Set ...
Business English: Texts to practice Reading Comprehension
30 free texts Premium: 62 texts. Business vocabulary and commonly used phrases are also detailed in the texts, and all this information - including the texts themselves, the vocabulary, and the questions - can be downloaded for free in PDF form, to be studied at a later time. These Business English sections are sure to help readers enhance ...
The Business of Space Reading Answers
Download. The Academic passage, The Business of Space Reading Answers, is a reading passage that consists of 13 questions. With diligent practice, the Reading Module can be the top-scoring category for IELTS aspirants. To score well, you must understand how to approach and answer the different question types in the Reading Module.
Reading: Create Your Business Plan
This written guide will help you create a business plan and map out how you will start and run your business successfully. The executive summary is often considered the most important section of a business plan. This section briefly tells your reader where your company is, where you want to take it, and why your business idea will be successful.
Powell reinforces position that the Fed is not ready to start cutting
Best Tax Software for Small Business. SELECT. All Taxes. Filing For Free. Best Tax Software. Best Tax Software for Small Businesses. Tax Refunds. Tax Brackets. Tax Tips. Tax By State. Tax Payment ...
Senate passes spending bill after deadline, averting shutdown
After hours of gridlock, the Senate approved a $1.2 trillion spending package to avert a partial federal shutdown. Passage came after a 12:01 a.m. deadline, meaning some federal funding ...
CommEX, Owner of Binance's Former Russian Ops, to Close Down
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now CommEX exchange said it plans to shut down its website by May 10 ...
A Total Solar Eclipse Is Coming April 8. Here's What to Know.
In any given place along the eclipse path, the event will last around two hours or more.. The event will commence with a partial solar eclipse, as the moon takes a small bite out of the sun's ...
Fabrics retailer Joann files for bankruptcy
Joann, the 81-year-old fabric and craft retailer, has filed for bankruptcy as it struggles with customers cutting back on discretionary spending.
Legoland and Alton Towers owner plans to charge more at peak times
The owner of Legoland, Alton Towers and Madame Tussauds is planning to introduce budget airline-style surge pricing, so families will pay more on peak summer weekends than rainy weekdays, as ...
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down in wake of cabin panel blowout
Calhoun announces plans to resign amid biggest safety crisis for Boeing since crashes of two of its Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019

IELTS Mentor "IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer"

Nav view search

GT Reading Test 30 Section 3 - Business Planning

IELTS Materials

Useful Links

Business Planning Reading Questions and Answers

IELTS Reading passage – Business Planning

Related Posts

Age-proofing our brains Reading Answers And Question

In Praise Of Amateurs Reading Ielts Answers and Questions

Setting up your own business: Reading Answers & PDF

Setting up your own business

Questions 22-27

2 thoughts on “Setting up your own business: Reading Answers & PDF”

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Business Planning – IELTS General Reading Passage

GT Reading: “Business Planning”

Business Planning

Questions 28-34

Questions 35-40

Related Posts

A GUIDE TO WOMENOMICS: IELTS Academic Reading Sample Question

12.8: Reading- Create Your Business Plan

Executive Summary

If You Are an Established Business

If You Are a Startup or New Business

Company Description

What to Include in Your Company Description

Market Analysis

What to Include in Your Market Analysis

Organization and Management

Organizational Structure

Ownership Information

Board of Directors’ Qualifications

Service or Product Line

What to Include in Your Service or Product Line Section

Marketing and Sales

Funding Request

Financial Projections

Historical Financial Data

Prospective Financial Data

How to Make Your Business Plan Stand Out

Be Clear About What You Have to Offer

Don’t Become a Jack of All Trades—Learn to Strategize

Identify Your Niche

Check Your Understanding

Contributors and Attributions

6 Questions Every Business Plan Should Answer

Table of Contents

What is a business plan, and why does it matter?

What should a business plan include?

Questions every business plan should answer

1. What is the competitive advantage?

2. Is the business in a growth market?

3. Will customers pay for it?

4. How will the business be staffed?

5. Is the product innovative?

6. Are the plans and goals realistic?

How planning for success pays off

Building Better Businesses

20 Business Plan Quiz Questions and Answers

Article overview

Part 2: Download business plan questions & answers for free

Part 3: Free online quiz creator – OnlineExamMaker

Related Posts

Share this post:

What Is a Business Plan?

Key Takeaways

2 Types of Business Plans

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)

What Is a Business Plan?

Get a Business Idea

Conduct Market Analysis

Product and Service Demand

Identify Demographics of Target Market

How to Write a Business Plan

SWOT Analysis

Pricing Strategy