 TITLE: What Is a Business Plan? CONTENT: How Does a Business Plan Work?\n------------------------------\nAlthough all business plans share certain similarities, there are different variations depending on the goals you're trying to achieve.\n*   **Startup business plan**: Write this type of plan before launching a new business. For your company to have a better chance of success, you'll need to think through all the steps involved, figure out how much money you need to open your business, and assess whether your business idea will actually fly. A startup business plan can help.\n*   **Business plan for financing**: Both startup and existing businesses may want (or need) to write a business plan if they're seeking a loan or other financing. In general, traditional sources of financing, such as banks, angel investors and venture capitalists, will require a business plan before they consider financing your business. Non-traditional sources, such as peer-to-peer lenders or online lenders, may not.\n*   **Business expansion plan**: If your business is planning to expand into new geographic or demographic markets, launch a new product or service, or undertake a major expansion, creating a business plan can help you plot your course before you invest your time and money.\n*   **Business pivot**: Sometimes you need to make drastic changes to your business model, such as taking your retail store online-only. When it's time to pivot in a completely different direction, drafting a new business plan can start you off on the right foot.\n*   **Business acquisition plan**: Used when you're considering buying another business, a business acquisition plan digs into the details of that business to assess its viability. It also plans how you'll incorporate the acquisition into your existing business strategy and operations and how the acquisition will benefit you. END