AQA · GCSE · Business
Course version: 8132 · Version from Sept 2017
Business planning: The main sections within a business plan
Full specification wording
Business planning: The main sections within a business plan
A business plan is a written document setting out how a start-up or expanding firm intends to trade.
Checked against the AQA 8132 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 2 of 9
- 3 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
A business plan is a written document setting out how a start-up or expanding firm intends to trade. Its main sections usually include the business idea and objectives; the product or service and its market; marketing and operations plans; the finance needed and projected figures; and the owner's background. Each section answers a different question: what will be sold, to whom, how, and with what money. For example, a café plan might state its target lunchtime office workers, its menu, its location, its staffing, and a cash-flow forecast showing £8,000 start-up capital. Sections link together, so a marketing promise must be affordable within the finance section. Lenders and investors read the plan to judge viability and risk.
What earns the marks
- Identifies the purpose of a business plan as a written document guiding a start-up or expansion and supporting applications for finance.
- Names and explains the main sections, such as the business idea and objectives, market and competitor analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, and financial forecasts.
- Explains how sections interlink, for example that marketing spending must fit within the finance section's available funds.
- Uses a concrete example, such as a café plan showing target customers, menu, location, staffing and start-up capital.
- Explains why stakeholders such as banks and investors read the plan to assess viability and risk.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Treating the business plan as only a finance document.
Put it right: It covers the idea, market, marketing, operations and finance together.
Listing section headings without explaining what each contains or why it matters.
Put it right: Add a purpose or example for each section.
Assuming a plan guarantees success.
Put it right: Explain that it reduces risk by testing viability but cannot remove uncertainty.
Exam tips
- Use command words carefully: 'identify' needs a named section, while 'explain' needs a reason or consequence.
- Apply each section to the case study business rather than describing plans in general.
- Link sections explicitly, for example showing how a marketing decision affects the cash-flow forecast.
Try the lesson
The start of the Business planning: The main sections within a business plan lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which section of a business plan states what the business is aiming to achieve?
Listen
A business plan is a written document setting out how a start-up or expanding firm intends to trade. Its main sections usually include the business idea and objectives; the product or service and its market; marketing and operations plans; the finance needed and projected figures; and the owner's background. Each section answers a different question: what will be sold, to whom, how, and with what money. For example, a café plan might state its target lunchtime office workers, its menu, its location, its staffing, and a cash-flow forecast showing £8,000 start-up capital. Sections link together, so a marketing promise must be affordable within the finance section. Lenders and investors read the plan to judge viability and risk. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Identifies the purpose of a business plan as a written document guiding a start-up or expansion and supporting applications for finance. Names and explains the main sections, such as the business idea and objectives, market and competitor analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, and financial forecasts. Explains how sections interlink, for example that marketing spending must fit within the finance section's available funds. Uses a concrete example, such as a café plan showing target customers, menu, location, staffing and start-up capital. A common slip: Treating the business plan as only a finance document. Instead, it covers the idea, market, marketing, operations and finance together. Exam tip: Use command words carefully: 'identify' needs a named section, while 'explain' needs a reason or consequence.
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Structure of a plan
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Interdependence of sections
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Use by lenders and investors
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
See every definition
- Structure of a plan
- The main sections usually include the business idea and objectives, the product or service and its market, marketing and operations plans, the finance needed and projected figures, and the owner's background.
- Interdependence of sections
- Sections link together, so a marketing promise must be affordable within the finance section.
- Use by lenders and investors
- Lenders and investors read the plan to judge viability and risk.
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