The Main Things to Include in Your Business Plan Are

• Executive Summary. A summary of the most important aspects of your business. It's usually one or two pages in length, but you can try to keep it to just one page. The Executive Summary is probably the most important part of the small business plan that you will write, because it may be the only part of the plan that most other people will read in detail. Include here a description of your small business and its uniqueness. What advantages over its competitors does your small business have?
  
• Mission Statement. This expresses what the business is and what it stands for. The Mission Statement should not be confused with Business Goals below. A mission statement deals with your business philosophy, business goals are what you can realistically achieve as far as monetary gains.
  
• Business Goals. Establish here specific, measurable (usually monetary), achievable, and time-targeted goals for the first and subsequent years. Your goals should express a sense of direction and purpose.
  
• Market Description. Include here a description of the particular market your business is competing in, for example, selling automobiles on eBay.com, an online auction website. Be specific. Try to give basic information about the market, briefly but in some depth also. Include exactly who your target customers are and needs you are fulfilling better than your competitors.
  If you like, include a market analysis table, chart, and text, not shown here, but you can see them on my Business Plan Template page (new window). If youinclude tables and charts in your business plan, it does add color, understanding, interest, and ease of reading to such business documents. It also gives your small business plan, or other business document, a more professional look.
  
• Product and Services. Describe why you are in business and list your products or services, including prices. Everyone is going to want to know, of course, what you are selling.
  
• Management Summary. This includes a description of top management and what value they bring to the company as far as skills and experience. If there are many involved in top management, an organization chart showing a flow of responsibility would be helpful. Many business plans will include here a chart showing a yearly payroll summary for all employees of the business.
  Also describe the legal structure of your business. That is, what is the legal form of its ownership? Is it a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other?
  
• Financial Capacity. Provide here an estimate of start-up costs, projected balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. The cash flow statement essentially shows the flow of cash into and out of a business. A balance sheet lists business assets, liabilities, and ownership equity.
  The income statement shows how money is or will be received into the business or revenue, expenses, and net income, after expenses are deducted from the revenue (this is often called the "bottom line"). The balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement are usually projected for five years.

A well written business plan should help greatly to make your business more credible to someone other than yourself (for example, a prospective investor or bank), who is unfamiliar with the business. Writing a plan will not guarantee success, but it can go a long way toward reducing the odds of failure too.
If you plan on seeking financial assistance such as a bank or government loan or perhaps a small business start up grant to help fund your business, the lending or other organization will no doubt require a more formal business plan from you.
For expert help in developing a professional looking small business plan I highly recommend Business Plan Pro by Palo Alto Software. Why? It's not because Business Plan Pro is the least expensive business plan software available. It's not! But I can tell you this, and you know it too, the cheapest is not always the best you can do!
It's my opinion that Business Plan Pro is the easiest, most versatile, most popular business plan software available. Believe me, especially if you are a beginner at small business start-up and business plans, the small amount of money you spend on Business Plan Pro will save you time, money, and mental fatigue!
Another great thing about this software, and what makes it the most unique, is that it provides hundreds and hundreds of ready made, perfect, sample professional business plans, that you can see, study, and modify any way you want, and, each comes complete with terrific functions that will provide you great layouts and graphs for a truly professional looking business plan, that you can be proud of!

It really is the easiest way to produce an excellent business plan for you. Hey! If you learn how to write business plans the Palo Alto way, you could possibly even start your own small business writing business plans for others.