Explain why you need the funds, sources of your funds, and what the funds will be used for. Give as much detail as you can for how the money will be used. Most common uses for funding include R&D, working capital, and purchase of equipment.

This is one of the most important sections of your business plan because it lays out the viability of your venture. You should have at least a basic understanding of the numbers you’re presenting – sales forecasts, profit-and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow projections, etc. – before you speak with any prospective investor, because you will be asked to respond to questions about these financial numbers.

This section should include the names, backgrounds, and qualifications of key management and what their respective responsibilities are in your venture. Discuss why the management team is well qualified to make this business successful. If any of your management team, board, or advisors have had prior success as an entrepreneur, note this – it will boost the confidence level of your prospective investors.

A strong management team is extremely important to investors, often even more important than the business idea itself. Take the time to explain exactly what your management team brings to the table.

This section tells your potential investors exactly how you make your product or service available to customers and how you plan to get the word out about your product or service. Here, you should discuss your marketing channels and provide sales targets. It’s best to give a number of different marketing strategies, possibly beginning with the least expensive and then progressing to the most costly. Be sure to include the cost and other details of your overall marketing plan.

Use this section to demonstrate to prospective investors that you’ve thoroughly researched the market you’re serving. Discuss projected growth of the industry, the profile of the typical customer, technological, regulatory, and operational issues, and what the competition is doing now and may be likely to do in the future. In sum, you want to show your knowledge about the industry and give investors confidence that you really know what you’re talking about. Solid research really counts in this section.

Put yourself in the place of potential investors when determining how to describe your product or service. An investor would want to know what you offer and why it’s better than what’s already available on the market. How is your product or service new and different? If the product or service is not yet on the market, has it been tested and what were the results? Explain costs, pricing, and future plans for the business. You may also discuss barriers to entry and why a competitor won’t be able to easily duplicate your product or service more cheaply.

This section of your business plan should briefly sum up your company’s history and how you got to where you are now. Explain how your management team and your business evolved, how much has been invested in the business to date and by whom, and what the ownership and legal structures are. You may also include your mission statement and value proposition here.