Now, write a brief introduction that can also serve as your Executive Summary if saved in a separate file. Be sure to set up your template such that it has standard disclaimers for investors inside the cover page, and confidential markings either as a watermark or on the bottom of each page.

Your introduction should have the following headings:  Overview, Company History,  Product and Competitive Advantage, Market Summary, Team Overview, Investment Objectives, Company Objectives and Exit Strategy.   If you plan to have this section also double as your Executive Summary, keep it to two pages in length even if you have to play with the margins a bit.

The next major section should be entitled The Market – and should start with a brief overview, then have detailed sections where you showcase the market SAM and TAM, list key market drivers – forces that will help propel the uptake of your product, present your competitive analysis along with a discussion of how you will handle competition, and a small section detailing the future of the market with projections. Market projections can be purchased from a reputable analyst such as Gartner Dataquest or Ovum, or gleaned from press releases on the web if you are operating on a shoestring.

The next section should be dedicated to your products or services and your roadmap, which is a blueprint of how you are going to keep ahead of the competition and create new and interesting offerings for your customers. You should detail any patents you have in this section, as well as any key intellectual property you own.  Be careful and don’t give away too much – it is well known that despite confidentially agreements and warnings, many business plans end up in the wrong hands.

The next section is your operations section – here you list your headquarters (or your web host if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar building), your current and future organizational charts, key operational costs and considerations, any manufacturing plans you may have, and any cost containment processes you have put in place.  This is a very important section, as this shows HOW you will get from point A to point B in your business.