revenue business plan

Business growth

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How to build a revenue growth plan that works

A revenue growth plan is an intentionally designed roadmap to increasing revenue. If done well, it's a blueprint to follow, including strategic and tactical elements that can accelerate your company's growth.

To help, here are the phases that I use when advising my clients—and for my own business. These steps have worked for me, and I think they can work for you too.

1. Get clear on your goals

As with any plan, you need to start with goals. The overarching question here is: what do I want to achieve in my business and why? But you'll want to break down that question into a few distinct questions: 

How much revenue do I want to generate in the next year? Next 3 years? 5 years?

How many employees do I want to have in the next year? Next 3 years? 5 years?

The details matter. A "see how it goes" attitude won't be motivating—for you or your employees—and will also make it difficult to understand if and how you're doing against your goals.

2. Assess where your company currently stands

You need to take a good look at your current assets, liabilities, people, and systems to understand what your potential to grow really is. Otherwise, you risk creating an unrealistic growth plan—including strategies that aren't right for your business. I've found that businesses often hyper-inflate what they can do in a short period of time and underestimate what they can do in a long period of time. Really knowing where you stand can help adjust for that.

I once worked with a $48 million company that had been in business for five years, and they had never assessed their position. Not once. In the beginning, they were growing rapidly. Everything was smooth; and then suddenly, they got stuck. 

When we assessed their position, we discovered that 62 percent of their incoming leads were not contacted—and the leads that were being contacted closed 34 percent of the time. You can only imagine the shock and disbelief of the CEO when he realized the number of leads that went dormant (or were simply neglected), not to mention the unrealized value of those leads. Once the initial shock wore off, and with the benefit of the company's current position in mind, this CEO was able to grow his company from $48 million to $110 million over the next 10 years. 

Once you understand what your strengths and weaknesses are, you adjust your revenue growth plan to capitalize on the strengths and improve on the weaknesses. 

3. Decide who owns what

You can't implement a revenue growth strategy on your own, which means you need to be clear on what role everyone will play. So, who should be on your revenue growth plan's team? 

A revenue growth plan takes into account the company's entire customer journey—including marketing, prospecting, customer service, PR, sales, the list goes on. For that reason, I recommend including at least one person from each department or team; that way, nothing slips through the cracks just because of a gap in knowledge.

And while leadership should be involved, many of the best ideas for a revenue growth plan come from those not in leadership positions since those are the people more involved in the day-to-day activities of each department. Including roles like sales representatives and customer service agents can do wonders for making sure you have a realistic plan.

4. Hold weekly planning meetings

Treat your revenue growth plan as you would any other important project. Holding weekly stakeholder meetings is a great way to get your team members engaged and ensure everyone knows what they're responsible for. It can also be a source of creativity and provide accountability within your team.

Remember the business owner I mentioned who was struggling with managing their company's responsibilities? When I came in, the first thing I did was suggest they hold a weekly planning meeting. At the end of each meeting, they would assign responsibilities to various employees—it was a transparent and consistent process that fostered accountability. And guess what? This company ended up growing by 40 percent over the next 12 months.

Here's a blueprint for a revenue growth meeting that I've found works well:

Take a facet of your proposed revenue growth plan and write it on a whiteboard (in-person or virtual).

Have everyone on the revenue growth team come up with three ideas to achieve that part of the plan. Give people a few minutes of silence to think. 

One by one, allow people to present their ideas (and capture them on the whiteboard).

Have team members vote on the top three and then discuss priority order of implementation. 

Leave time to discuss any mitigating circumstances that could potentially upend that part of the plan. 

Assign tasks based on all of the above, and distribute them in a transparent way for accountability.

5. Reassess and address any constraining factors

The business space today is exceptionally dynamic. Economic conditions are constantly changing, consumer tastes and preferences shift, and products often reach market saturation. If you want your company to excel in this environment, you need to consistently reassess and adjust.

So after you've completed the planning phases but before you launch your revenue growth plan, go back and reassess your business position, just like you did toward the beginning. This review can help you address teething problems in your plan and clear out any potential blind spots.

6. Launch your revenue growth plan

This is where the rubber meets the road. A revenue growth plan without action is simply that—a plan. It won't get you any results.  

It never ceases to amaze me that people go through the process of building a revenue growth plan only to sit on it. A client I worked with had previously completed a revenue growth plan, and it sat dormant for two years because they thought they needed to get everything 100% right. Two years later, they met me and asked me what they should do with it. I reviewed their plan and told them simply to launch it. Things will never be perfect, but they can be successful. And it was successful: in the first week after the launch, they had 36 new sales and no client complaints. 

If you choose to wait for a time when every single thing is just right before launching your plan, you'll likely end up waiting forever. So go ahead and implement your plan, even if it's not perfect. 

And once you launch, it's not over. Continue to track progress (I suggest using project management software ), and continue to have periodic group meetings to be sure your plan still makes sense and is progressing as you'd hoped. Remember: you can always tweak your plan and adjust as you go. Pay attention to what your team members and data are telling you, and adjust accordingly.

The bottom line

A great revenue growth plan doesn't have to be complicated. There isn't a magic hack or silver bullet that will grow your revenue exponentially overnight—or at least I haven't found it yet (let me know if you do). But you need to start somewhere, and a revenue growth plan is a great start.

This was a guest post from Doug C. Brown, the CEO of Business Success Factors, a highly acclaimed sales revenue growth expert and international bestselling author of the book, Win-Win Selling: Unlocking Your Power for Profitability by Resolving Objections . His mission is to help companies grow their sales revenue and to have better-performing sales teams. You can learn more about Doug at  www.businesssuccessfactors.com , or find him on Facebook as Doug C. Brown (@dougcbrownbsf). Want to see your work on the Zapier blog? Read our guidelines , and get in touch.

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Doug C. Brown

Doug C. Brown is the CEO at Business Success Factors, where he advises companies in boosting their sales revenue and having top-performing sales teams.

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Free Financial Templates for a Business Plan

By Andy Marker | July 29, 2020

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In this article, we’ve rounded up expert-tested financial templates for your business plan, all of which are free to download in Excel, Google Sheets, and PDF formats.

Included on this page, you’ll find the essential financial statement templates, including income statement templates , cash flow statement templates , and balance sheet templates . Plus, we cover the key elements of the financial section of a business plan .

Financial Plan Templates

Download and prepare these financial plan templates to include in your business plan. Use historical data and future projections to produce an overview of the financial health of your organization to support your business plan and gain buy-in from stakeholders

Business Financial Plan Template

Use this financial plan template to organize and prepare the financial section of your business plan. This customizable template has room to provide a financial overview, any important assumptions, key financial indicators and ratios, a break-even analysis, and pro forma financial statements to share key financial data with potential investors.

Download Financial Plan Template

Word | PDF | Smartsheet

Financial Plan Projections Template for Startups

This financial plan projections template comes as a set of pro forma templates designed to help startups. The template set includes a 12-month profit and loss statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement for you to detail the current and projected financial position of a business.

‌ Download Startup Financial Projections Template

Excel | Smartsheet

Income Statement Templates for Business Plan

Also called profit and loss statements , these income statement templates will empower you to make critical business decisions by providing insight into your company, as well as illustrating the projected profitability associated with business activities. The numbers prepared in your income statement directly influence the cash flow and balance sheet forecasts.

Pro Forma Income Statement/Profit and Loss Sample

Use this pro forma income statement template to project income and expenses over a three-year time period. Pro forma income statements consider historical or market analysis data to calculate the estimated sales, cost of sales, profits, and more.

‌ Download Pro Forma Income Statement Sample - Excel

Small Business Profit and Loss Statement

Small businesses can use this simple profit and loss statement template to project income and expenses for a specific time period. Enter expected income, cost of goods sold, and business expenses, and the built-in formulas will automatically calculate the net income.

‌ Download Small Business Profit and Loss Template - Excel

3-Year Income Statement Template

Use this income statement template to calculate and assess the profit and loss generated by your business over three years. This template provides room to enter revenue and expenses associated with operating your business and allows you to track performance over time.

Download 3-Year Income Statement Template

For additional resources, including how to use profit and loss statements, visit “ Download Free Profit and Loss Templates .”

Cash Flow Statement Templates for Business Plan

Use these free cash flow statement templates to convey how efficiently your company manages the inflow and outflow of money. Use a cash flow statement to analyze the availability of liquid assets and your company’s ability to grow and sustain itself long term.

Simple Cash Flow Template

Use this basic cash flow template to compare your business cash flows against different time periods. Enter the beginning balance of cash on hand, and then detail itemized cash receipts, payments, costs of goods sold, and expenses. Once you enter those values, the built-in formulas will calculate total cash payments, net cash change, and the month ending cash position.

Download Simple Cash Flow Template

12-Month Cash Flow Forecast Template

Use this cash flow forecast template, also called a pro forma cash flow template, to track and compare expected and actual cash flow outcomes on a monthly and yearly basis. Enter the cash on hand at the beginning of each month, and then add the cash receipts (from customers, issuance of stock, and other operations). Finally, add the cash paid out (purchases made, wage expenses, and other cash outflow). Once you enter those values, the built-in formulas will calculate your cash position for each month with.

‌ Download 12-Month Cash Flow Forecast

3-Year Cash Flow Statement Template Set

Use this cash flow statement template set to analyze the amount of cash your company has compared to its expenses and liabilities. This template set contains a tab to create a monthly cash flow statement, a yearly cash flow statement, and a three-year cash flow statement to track cash flow for the operating, investing, and financing activities of your business.

Download 3-Year Cash Flow Statement Template

For additional information on managing your cash flow, including how to create a cash flow forecast, visit “ Free Cash Flow Statement Templates .”

Balance Sheet Templates for a Business Plan

Use these free balance sheet templates to convey the financial position of your business during a specific time period to potential investors and stakeholders.

Small Business Pro Forma Balance Sheet

Small businesses can use this pro forma balance sheet template to project account balances for assets, liabilities, and equity for a designated period. Established businesses can use this template (and its built-in formulas) to calculate key financial ratios, including working capital.

Download Pro Forma Balance Sheet Template

Monthly and Quarterly Balance Sheet Template

Use this balance sheet template to evaluate your company’s financial health on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. You can also use this template to project your financial position for a specified time in the future. Once you complete the balance sheet, you can compare and analyze your assets, liabilities, and equity on a quarter-over-quarter or year-over-year basis.

Download Monthly/Quarterly Balance Sheet Template - Excel

Yearly Balance Sheet Template

Use this balance sheet template to compare your company’s short and long-term assets, liabilities, and equity year-over-year. This template also provides calculations for common financial ratios with built-in formulas, so you can use it to evaluate account balances annually.

Download Yearly Balance Sheet Template - Excel

For more downloadable resources for a wide range of organizations, visit “ Free Balance Sheet Templates .”

Sales Forecast Templates for Business Plan

Sales projections are a fundamental part of a business plan, and should support all other components of your plan, including your market analysis, product offerings, and marketing plan . Use these sales forecast templates to estimate future sales, and ensure the numbers align with the sales numbers provided in your income statement.

Basic Sales Forecast Sample Template

Use this basic forecast template to project the sales of a specific product. Gather historical and industry sales data to generate monthly and yearly estimates of the number of units sold and the price per unit. Then, the pre-built formulas will calculate percentages automatically. You’ll also find details about which months provide the highest sales percentage, and the percentage change in sales month-over-month. 

Download Basic Sales Forecast Sample Template

12-Month Sales Forecast Template for Multiple Products

Use this sales forecast template to project the future sales of a business across multiple products or services over the course of a year. Enter your estimated monthly sales, and the built-in formulas will calculate annual totals. There is also space to record and track year-over-year sales, so you can pinpoint sales trends.

Download 12-Month Sales Forecasting Template for Multiple Products

3-Year Sales Forecast Template for Multiple Products

Use this sales forecast template to estimate the monthly and yearly sales for multiple products over a three-year period. Enter the monthly units sold, unit costs, and unit price. Once you enter those values, built-in formulas will automatically calculate revenue, margin per unit, and gross profit. This template also provides bar charts and line graphs to visually display sales and gross profit year over year.

Download 3-Year Sales Forecast Template - Excel

For a wider selection of resources to project your sales, visit “ Free Sales Forecasting Templates .”

Break-Even Analysis Template for Business Plan

A break-even analysis will help you ascertain the point at which a business, product, or service will become profitable. This analysis uses a calculation to pinpoint the number of service or unit sales you need to make to cover costs and make a profit.

Break-Even Analysis Template

Use this break-even analysis template to calculate the number of sales needed to become profitable. Enter the product's selling price at the top of the template, and then add the fixed and variable costs. Once you enter those values, the built-in formulas will calculate the total variable cost, the contribution margin, and break-even units and sales values.

Download Break-Even Analysis Template

For additional resources, visit, “ Free Financial Planning Templates .”

Business Budget Templates for Business Plan

These business budget templates will help you track costs (e.g., fixed and variable) and expenses (e.g., one-time and recurring) associated with starting and running a business. Having a detailed budget enables you to make sound strategic decisions, and should align with the expense values listed on your income statement.

Startup Budget Template

Use this startup budget template to track estimated and actual costs and expenses for various business categories, including administrative, marketing, labor, and other office costs. There is also room to provide funding estimates from investors, banks, and other sources to get a detailed view of the resources you need to start and operate your business.

Download Startup Budget Template

Small Business Budget Template

This business budget template is ideal for small businesses that want to record estimated revenue and expenditures on a monthly and yearly basis. This customizable template comes with a tab to list income, expenses, and a cash flow recording to track cash transactions and balances.

Download Small Business Budget Template

Professional Business Budget Template

Established organizations will appreciate this customizable business budget template, which  contains a separate tab to track projected business expenses, actual business expenses, variances, and an expense analysis. Once you enter projected and actual expenses, the built-in formulas will automatically calculate expense variances and populate the included visual charts. 

‌ Download Professional Business Budget Template

For additional resources to plan and track your business costs and expenses, visit “ Free Business Budget Templates for Any Company .”

Other Financial Templates for Business Plan

In this section, you’ll find additional financial templates that you may want to include as part of your larger business plan.

Startup Funding Requirements Template

This simple startup funding requirements template is useful for startups and small businesses that require funding to get business off the ground. The numbers generated in this template should align with those in your financial projections, and should detail the allocation of acquired capital to various startup expenses.

Download Startup Funding Requirements Template - Excel

Personnel Plan Template

Use this customizable personnel plan template to map out the current and future staff needed to get — and keep — the business running. This information belongs in the personnel section of a business plan, and details the job title, amount of pay, and hiring timeline for each position. This template calculates the monthly and yearly expenses associated with each role using built-in formulas. Additionally, you can add an organizational chart to provide a visual overview of the company’s structure. 

Download Personnel Plan Template - Excel

Elements of the Financial Section of a Business Plan

Whether your organization is a startup, a small business, or an enterprise, the financial plan is the cornerstone of any business plan. The financial section should demonstrate the feasibility and profitability of your idea and should support all other aspects of the business plan. 

Below, you’ll find a quick overview of the components of a solid financial plan.

• Financial Overview: This section provides a brief summary of the financial section, and includes key takeaways of the financial statements. If you prefer, you can also add a brief description of each statement in the respective statement’s section.
• Key Assumptions: This component details the basis for your financial projections, including tax and interest rates, economic climate, and other critical, underlying factors.
• Break-Even Analysis: This calculation helps establish the selling price of a product or service, and determines when a product or service should become profitable.
• Pro Forma Income Statement: Also known as a profit and loss statement, this section details the sales, cost of sales, profitability, and other vital financial information to stakeholders.
• Pro Forma Cash Flow Statement: This area outlines the projected cash inflows and outflows the business expects to generate from operating, financing, and investing activities during a specific timeframe.
• Pro Forma Balance Sheet: This document conveys how your business plans to manage assets, including receivables and inventory.
• Key Financial Indicators and Ratios: In this section, highlight key financial indicators and ratios extracted from financial statements that bankers, analysts, and investors can use to evaluate the financial health and position of your business.

Need help putting together the rest of your business plan? Check out our free simple business plan templates to get started. You can learn how to write a successful simple business plan  here . 

Visit this  free non-profit business plan template roundup  or download a  fill-in-the-blank business plan template  to make things easy. If you are looking for a business plan template by file type, visit our pages dedicated specifically to  Microsoft Excel ,  Microsoft Word , and  Adobe PDF  business plan templates. Read our articles offering  startup business plan templates  or  free 30-60-90-day business plan templates  to find more tailored options.

Discover a Better Way to Manage Business Plan Financials and Finance Operations

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When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

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1. Write an executive summary

2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. add additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan is a document that outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them. A strong, detailed plan will provide a road map for the business’s next three to five years, and you can share it with potential investors, lenders or other important partners.

ZenBusiness: Start Your Dream Business

Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing your business plan.

» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .

This is the first page of your business plan. Think of it as your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services offered, and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.

Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.

» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps

Next up is your company description, which should contain information like:

Your business’s registered name.

Address of your business location .

Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.

Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.

Lastly, it should cover the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.

» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan

The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out exactly what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the long term.

If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain why you have a clear need for the funds, how the financing will help your business grow, and how you plan to achieve your growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity presented and how the loan or investment will grow your company.

For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch the new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.

In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

You should include the following:

An explanation of how your product or service works.

The pricing model for your product or service.

The typical customers you serve.

Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.

Your sales strategy.

Your distribution strategy.

You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.

Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.

Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.

» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing

If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.

You may also include metrics such as:

Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.

Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.

Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.

This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.

» NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:

The best business checking accounts .

The best business credit cards .

The best accounting software .

This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.

Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.

Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.

List any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere, such as resumes of key employees, licenses, equipment leases, permits, patents, receipts, bank statements, contracts and personal and business credit history. If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.

Here are some tips to help your business plan stand out:

Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business loan at a local bank, the loan officer likely knows your market pretty well. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of loan approval.

Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors, taking their mind off your business and putting it on the mistakes you made. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.

Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. You can search for a mentor or find a local SCORE chapter for more guidance.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.

On a similar note...

Revenue models: 11 types and how to pick the right one

Finding the right revenue model for your company and products is an incredibly important part of starting and expanding your business. It's a key part of building a brand. Explore popular revenue models and how to choose the right one.

What is a revenue model?

• 11 different types of revenue models

Costs associated with revenue models 

• How to choose your revenue model

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In one of the most famous lines from the 1941 classic Citizen Kane , Mr. Bernstein proclaims: “ It's no trick to make an awful lot of money... if what you want is to do is make a lot of money .” If only that statement were as true as it seemed. It's probably more accurate to say, “There are a lot of ways to make a lot of money.”

That’s particularly true for software businesses, with the rise of the mobile internet stimulating an explosion in the number of viable revenue models. Choosing which revenue model works best for your SaaS business, though, is not easy (even if that's all you want to do is choose a revenue model for your SaaS business). Your choice will help determine your sales strategy , and from there the growth rates, the amount of money you’ll need to invest initially, and the kind of relationship you’re likely to build with your customers. More than that — the choice determines the future of your business. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular revenue models used today — why they’re popular, why they work, and why they will (or won’t) work for you.

A revenue model is the income generating framework that is part of a company’s business model. Common revenue models include subscription, licensing and markup. The revenue model helps businesses determine their revenue generation strategies such as: which revenue source to prioritize, understanding target customers, and how to price their products.

Revenue models often get conflated with revenue streams, probably because each is a single revenue generation source. They are also confused with business models, of which revenue models are a part. Revenue models help business owners determine how to manage their revenue streams and are required to complete a business model.

Without a considered revenue model, your business will incur costs it cannot sustain. With a revenue model, you can set, track, and forecast business growth based on specific customer segments.

11 different types of revenue models 

There is no such thing as a perfect revenue model, but the popularity of some of the methods below suggests that many of them are well-tailored for the current state of the market. Here we’ll walk through each type of revenue model and when they may be most beneficial and applicable.

1. Subscription

The  subscription model  is the “vanilla” SaaS revenue model, not that there’s anything boring about a well-worked subscription plan. Businesses charge a customer every month or year for use of a product or service. All revenue is deferred and then fulfilled in installments. The subscription model is perhaps the most popular among SaaS companies because of its versatility, promise of  recurring revenue , and high value:customer lifetime balance.  Done right it's a one-way-ticket to sustainable growth .

Companies working with recurring revenue models, such as  subscription or licensing , see more value from a customer across a given customer lifetime. Being able to offer a variety of value options means your company can respond to more than one set of customer needs, expanding your appeal. Hubstaff’s subscription plan, seen below, is a classic of the genre:

Hubstaff’s various plans are distinct from one another in price and feature. This flexibility in the subscription model means that tentative or lower-budgeted customers can still get what they need, all the while maintaining visibility of what extra they could get for a few dollars more a month.

The freemium model is often described as a subscription revenue model, but in fact it’s an acquisition model, not a revenue model. Freemium involves giving users free access to an app and then selling subscriptions for a premium tier that includes more features.

Markup is a very common revenue model for buyer companies (i.e., companies that buy the products they sell). It’s as simple as can be: Take the cost of goods you just bought, mark it up X%, and make a profit margin on the original purchase. There are various subgenres of the markup model, including the following:

• Wholesale: Sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, business users, or other wholesalers
• Retail: Identification of demand, and satisfaction of it through a supply chain via a number of possible outlets, including physical and ecommercial ones

Markup is particularly used by mediators like ecommerce marketplaces — Amazon, for example. On average, Amazon charges a seller who uses their site 15% of the sale, plus  FBA fees  (including storage, pick & pack, shipping).

5. Pay-Per-User

One of the most enduring legacies of SaaS in the world of business is the introduction of pay-per-user (PPU). It involves giving a customer potentially unlimited to access to a range of features while charging them only for the services they use. At the dawn of SaaS, as the software required no physical delivery and deployed so quickly and cheaply, PPU appeared to be the most sensible revenue model. However, as natural as it seemed back in the day,  pay-per-user is not popular  anymore. Ascribing value to your product is one of the key considerations of your revenue model, and that includes demonstrating why it’s worth your target customers’ valuable dollars, not just making everything so cheap and easy that they can’t refuse. The issue with PPU, then, is that it’s rarely where value is ascribed to your product. Moreover, PPU kills your Monthly Active User metric. The per-user metric is not the most useful to customers in terms of deriving value — its take-it-or-leave-it approach actively works against your Daily Active Users number, and thus contributes to your churn rate.

6. Donation

As evidenced by the rise and rise of  Kickstarter - and  Patreon -based ventures, altruism is, if unpredictable, a pretty effective revenue model by itself. Relying on the donations of regular users is a common revenue model for nonprofits, online media (i.e., YouTubers) and independent news outlets.

7. Affiliate

What is  affiliate marketing ? This new, popular model works by promoting referral links to relevant products and collecting commission on any subsequent sales of those products. Leverage your product’s synergy with another product in an adjacent space and you both stand to gain. The affiliate model can be as simple as including in an article an outlink to a book or other product mentioned or offering your customers specialized recommendations relative to purchase history (again, Amazon is a master of this art). Some companies, such as Etsy, even have a  specific program  for their affiliates, where other companies can earn a commission on qualifying sales that result from featuring links to Etsy products and services. The affiliate revenue model is increasingly popular, owing to the way it dovetails effectively with other revenue models, particularly ad-based models.

8. Arbitrage

Applicable mainly to sellers or marketplace-oriented companies, the arbitrage revenue model uses the price difference in two different markets of the same good/service to make a profit. You buy in one market (a security/currency/commodity) and simultaneously sell in another market, at a higher price, what you just bought, pocketing the temporary price difference. Arbitrage is popular with  affiliate marketers , as well as with many cryptocurrency firms, SFOX being a prime example.

9. Commission

This transactional revenue model involves a middleman charging commission for each transaction it handles between two parties or for any lead it provides to the other party. It’s particularly popular with online marketplaces and aggregators, as well as businesses like independent music distributors. It’s particularly easy to get up and running with a commission-based business model because you’re working off of existing products. However, unless your field is well-conditioned for a monopoly, and unless your company is (or can become) that monopoly, you’ll find the commission model  very tough to scale .

10. Data Sales

Ever heard the phrase, “If you can’t see how the money’s made, you’re the product”? That’s data-selling in action. Many companies  selling digital goods  and services could not exist without core underlying data assets. In the data sale revenue model, this data is sold directly to a consumer or business customer. While certain companies will use data sale as their primary revenue model, the use of  data sales  to augment another revenue model is virtually ubiquitous. While some are using it as an  entrepreneurial venture , it is also the subject of considerable justified  public concern  and should be handled with care in the event you decide to go with it as your revenue model.

11. Web/Direct Sales

The old-fashioned revenue model made new, web sales and direct sales involve payment for goods or services through a digital medium. Web sales involve a customer finding your product via outbound marketing (or a web search) and can used for software, hardware, and subscription-based offerings. Direct sales revolve around inbound marketing and is good for handling multiple buyers and influencers in big-ticket markets.

A good revenue model is not just about squeezing as much revenue possible out of a sales cycle; it’s also about balancing your ambitions in the market with your resourcing requirements. A startup revenue model may be significantly different than one for an established business because their resources are vastly different. When choosing your model, factoring in costs is paramount to ensure profitability.

Cost of revenue

The first cost you’ll be likely to factor in is your cost of goods — how much it costs to produce the goods or service that you then sell. For hardware, this can comprise testing and manufacture; for software, it’ll include the whole development cycle. Regardless of what you produce, administrative overheads will also apply. You will find cost of goods a considerably less comprehensive metric than cost of revenue, which is the total cost of manufacturing and delivering a product or service to consumers. That includes everything we’ve just covered, plus distribution and marketing costs. Cost of revenue is more often used in SaaS and other service-oriented industries because it makes the many costs incurred outside of production in SaaS easier to track.

Prototyping costs

Prototyping is a fundamental aspect of any production cycle and, unfortunately, is one of the most expensive. While testing prototypes or beta versions of your new product, even the smallest revisions can necessitate costly changes to your production/development process. This usually comprises a base-level cost, plus iteration costs on top of that. When forecasting prototyping costs, it’s wise to plan for several iterations; it’s highly unlikely you’ll get everything right the first time around, especially if your product is innovative or is composed of a number of features.

Equipment costs

One of the beautiful things about being a SaaS company is that there are no production lines to run. Nevertheless, equipment costs still factor into the bottom line. Firmware,  app development tools , server rental, plus any other administrative services bought on subscription (e.g. Slack or Hubstaff) will play a part in your equipment costs, but, generally, equipment costs should be the easiest of all to forecast.

Labor costs

An underpaid workforce is an unhappy workforce (if it’s a workforce at all); wage costs come out of your bottom line. Based on the interaction of salary and commission in your  compensation plan , as well as the type of commission you offer (entirely open-ended or capped? Will there be accelerators/decelerators involved?), you will have to plan for your expenditure on labor costs differently.

Advertising & marketing costs

Your advertising and marketing costs will be determined by the following:

• The size of your respective advertising and marketing teams
• The scale of exposure you’re shooting for
• Your method of approach to advertising and marketing: undefinedundefinedundefined

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Your revenue model is unique

So many revenue sources, so many revenue models, so little time. There are some fundamental differences between revenue models. For instance, if you’re a SaaS company producing your own software product, you’re unlikely to get all that far with an arbitrage model. Likewise, if your product is a medium or if you’re a seller, a subscription-based revenue model won’t do the trick. A product with a high ceiling for potential revenue is not best served by a donation model. Nevertheless, the choice of a main revenue model out of the batch that do work for your product, and how you then combine them with appropriate aspects of other models, is yours, and yours only. Your product and the market should be in mind at all times while you’re settling on, adding to, and refining your model. After that, bringing in the revenue itself should be as easy as  Citizen Kane  said.

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Writing a Business Plan—Financial Projections

Spell out your financial forecast in dollars and sense

Creating financial projections for your startup is both an art and a science. Although investors want to see cold, hard numbers, it can be difficult to predict your financial performance three years down the road, especially if you are still raising seed money. Regardless, short- and medium-term financial projections are a required part of your business plan if you want serious attention from investors.

The financial section of your business plan should include a sales forecast , expenses budget , cash flow statement , balance sheet , and a profit and loss statement . Be sure to follow the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board , a private-sector organization responsible for setting financial accounting and reporting standards in the U.S. If financial reporting is new territory for you, have an accountant review your projections.

Sales Forecast

As a startup business, you do not have past results to review, which can make forecasting sales difficult. It can be done, though, if you have a good understanding of the market you are entering and industry trends as a whole. In fact, sales forecasts based on a solid understanding of industry and market trends will show potential investors that you've done your homework and your forecast is more than just guesswork.

In practical terms, your forecast should be broken down by monthly sales with entries showing which units are being sold, their price points, and how many you expect to sell. When getting into the second year of your business plan and beyond, it's acceptable to reduce the forecast to quarterly sales. In fact, that's the case for most items in your business plan.

Expenses Budget

What you're selling has to cost something, and this budget is where you need to show your expenses. These include the cost to your business of the units being sold in addition to overhead. It's a good idea to break down your expenses by fixed costs and variable costs. For example, certain expenses will be the same or close to the same every month, including rent, insurance, and others. Some costs likely will vary month by month such as advertising or seasonal sales help.

Cash Flow Statement

As with your sales forecast, cash flow statements for a startup require doing some homework since you do not have historical data to use as a reference. This statement, in short, breaks down how much cash is coming into your business on a monthly basis vs. how much is going out. By using your sales forecasts and your expenses budget, you can estimate your cash flow intelligently.

Keep in mind that revenue often will trail sales, depending on the type of business you are operating. For example, if you have contracts with clients, they may not be paying for items they purchase until the month following delivery. Some clients may carry balances 60 or 90 days beyond delivery. You need to account for this lag when calculating exactly when you expect to see your revenue.

Profit and Loss Statement

Your P&L statement should take the information from your sales projections, expenses budget, and cash flow statement to project how much you expect in profits or losses through the three years included in your business plan. You should have a figure for each individual year as well as a figure for the full three-year period.

Balance Sheet

You provide a breakdown of all of your assets and liabilities in the balances sheet. Many of these assets and liabilities are items that go beyond monthly sales and expenses. For example, any property, equipment, or unsold inventory you own is an asset with a value that can be assigned to it. The same goes for outstanding invoices owed to you that have not been paid. Even though you don't have the cash in hand, you can count those invoices as assets. The amount you owe on a business loan or the amount you owe others on invoices you've not paid would count as liabilities. The balance is the difference between the value of everything you own vs. the value of everything you owe.

Break-Even Projection

If you've done a good job projecting your sales and expenses and inputting the numbers into a spreadsheet, you should be able to identify a date when your business breaks even—in other words, the date when you become profitable, with more money coming in than going out. As a startup business, this is not expected to happen overnight, but potential investors want to see that you have a date in mind and that you can support that projection with the numbers you've supplied in the financial section of your business plan.

Additional Tips

When putting together your financial projections, keep some general tips in mind:

• Get comfortable with spreadsheet software if you aren't already. It is the starting point for all financial projections and offers flexibility, allowing you to quickly change assumptions or weigh alternative scenarios. Microsoft Excel is the most common, and chances are you already have it on your computer. You can also buy special software packages to help with financial projections.
• Prepare a five-year projection . Don’t include this one in the business plan, since the further into the future you project, the harder it is to predict. However, have the projection available in case an investor asks for it.
• Offer two scenarios only . Investors will want to see a best-case and worst-case scenario, but don’t inundate your business plan with myriad medium-case scenarios. They likely will just cause confusion.
• Be reasonable and clear . As mentioned before, financial forecasting is as much art as science. You’ll have to assume certain things, such as your revenue growth, how your raw material and administrative costs will grow, and how effective you’ll be at collecting on accounts receivable. It’s best to be realistic in your projections as you try to recruit investors. If your industry is going through a contraction period and you’re projecting revenue growth of 20 percent a month, expect investors to see red flags.

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21 Revenue Strategy Examples to Kickstart Your Revenue Growth

by Elizabeth Harris

Aka: Revenue Strategies - the Foundation for CRO Success  

In a recent confidential interview, a CEO shared his thoughts about the next 12 months:  "We believe we will achieve our revenue and profit goals over the next 12 months with our current resources. We have the right team, the latest software and tools, effective processes, remarkable products & services, strong branding and a unique value proposition." He went on to admit “… but we are not achieving our revenue and profit goals and we are still unsure why.”

The proper revenue strategy aligns marketing, sales, and customer experience teams around a singular goal: drive profitability. Without a strategic roadmap, healthy and sustained growth simply cannot flourish, which is why organizations put so much emphasis on the planning process. In fact, studies reveal that tightly-aligned sales and marketing functions result in an average of 36% higher customer retention rates and 38% higher sales closing rates, than their more loosely aligned counterparts.

Unraveling such a puzzle to understand what is ‘broken’ has us first visiting the revenue strategy. Choosing a revenue strategy impacts all other aspects of planning and whether goals are achieved.

Download this article as a pdf here >

The best revenue strategy requires answers to these essential questions:

Strategy & goals.

1.   What are our overall business goals? 2.   How effective is our current strategy?

3.   Are we profitable, or as profitable as we should be?

4.   How do we define our complete sales process and sales funnel? 5.   How do we define success?

Measure Metrics

6.   How do we measure the effectiveness of our sales process? 7.   How do we measure the effectiveness of each stage of our sales process? 8.   How are sales results measured? 9.   What is our ROI on our marketing efforts? 10. What is the ROI on our sales efforts? 11. What is our current customer acquisition cost (CAC)?

Optimization

12. Are we using and maximizing the resources we have? 13. How do we improve conversion ratios during the sales process?

14. Are there opportunities to lower cost with a more effective strategy?

People Management

15. What management systems are required? 16. How much time is dedicated to sales and sales management by key leaders or managers?

Which Revenue Strategy?

Determining which revenue strategy to pursue is often the most difficult part when planning corporate objectives. The sea of empty space that stares back at executives from a blank whiteboard can deafen strategic brainstorming attempts with its silence.

Knowing which questions to ask and variables to consider is the most effective way to broach the subject of strategic revenue planning. Questions like,

Which sales and marketing opportunities are available to us immediately?”

What are our most valuable assets?”

Are the right people in place to execute our short-term and long-term goals?”

...can get the conversation started.

Once the discussion is underway, the revenue strategies below can inspire your team to find the best growth avenues that utilize your assets and opportunities effectively.

To enable you to meet your organization's revenue/profit goals and offer you starting point with a revenue strategy, here are 21 Revenue Strategies to fill your whiteboard and get you started:

(1)   increasing marketing investments.

Ideal Revenue Strategy for:

Organizations with budget allocation imbalances and those being outpaced by competitors in terms of marketing funding.

Considerations:

• Additional web creative and collateral needs
• Increased lead volume to sales teams

Scaling up marketing investments can generate more leads, which is a direct revenue driver. However, flooding the pipeline with more sales opportunities is only an effective strategy for organizations where the sales staff is prepared to handle this influx, which is why marketing cannot thrive in a vacuum. To be successful, marketing and sales teams need to communicate openly about current undertakings, upcoming plans, and overall objectives.

(2)   Changing Sales Compensation Plans

Organizations with excess sales team capacity or inefficient compensation and bonus plans.

• Added demands on account representatives
• Potential for undesirable revenue outcomes

In instances where leads are plentiful, ineffective compensation plans can stymie growth by failing to encourage sales teams to capitalize all available opportunities. Sales staff that are not motivated with financial, social, and other incentives will underperform, leaving potential revenue on the table. However, some revised compensation plans actually encourage undesirable outcomes like selling higher volumes of shorter contracts, which is why revenue implications must be considered when drafting compensation structures.

(3)   Expanding Brand Awareness

Startups and regionally successful companies.

• Sales pipeline growth implications
• Development of supporting marketing resources
• Ability to control the subsequent brand conversation

The adage that “you can only sell to consumers who know your company exists” still resonates. By focusing on overall branding, organizations can increase brand awareness throughout the market to aid in lead generation. While this is a less immediate strategy than other marketing efforts, it is still directly correlated with increasing revenue.

(4)   Repositioning the Brand

Legacy brands with declining or plateauing growth.

• Marketing channel expansion
• Increasing marketing support needs
• Market research to identify brand differentiation opportunities

In organizations where brand history has a solidified perception, there is a clear opportunity through rebranding to increase future revenue streams. This is especially salient when changes in audience demographics and psychographics necessitate a corresponding transformation by legacy brands to stay relevant.

As an example, fast food companies like Wendy’s and McDonald’s have invested millions in marketing campaigns over the last several years aimed at repositioning their brands as “healthy” and “fresh.” This rebranding tactic is aimed at appealing to modern consumers that have indicated that they value quality ingredients and more varied menu options, as well as convenience.

(5)   Adopting a Premium Pricing Strategy

Organizations with undifferentiated and value-priced offerings.

• Product research to drive innovation
• Demonstrating brand value
• Strategy for re-launching offerings

Providing additional value and raising prices is a strategic move that can positively affect the perception of both an organization and its offerings. Utilizing premium pricing and justifying the increase through supporting marketing and sales support can result in revenue lift. Furthermore, it can increase revenue by without a need to substantially vary offerings.

(6)   Incorporating Discounted Pricing Tactics

Organizations with price-sensitive target audiences.

• Effect on sales compensation plans
• Need for additional marketing collateral
• Alignment with overall revenue goals

Lowering prices can undercut the competition, resulting in a market penetration strategy that drives revenue. However, reducing prices is not the only way to discount products. Organizations can also achieve revenue growth by bundling offerings to provide more value at a discounted rate, offering product rebates, and changing shipping and handling pricing structures. Providing seasonal discounts and purchase timing discounts is another way to incentivize conversions through reduced pricing. Organizations can also pare down existing product functionality to offer more budget-friendly versions of the same products to increase sales across a wider demographic.

(7)   Expanding Distribution Channels

Organizations with consistent revenue and well-executed sales plans. 

• Legal partnership agreement considerations
• Availability of current products and future product capacity
• Need for increased staffing (especially among specialized roles)

Stepping out of existing distribution channels to embrace a new selling strategy is a way to boost revenue from existing products by getting them in front of previously unreached consumers. Selling via retailers, distributors, ecommerce sites, direct mail, and wholesalers encompasses a wide array of potential channels where consumers can shop.

For online businesses, social selling is another possible method to expand distribution channels, by allowing sales of products directly from the social platforms where consumers are already interacting with the brand.

(8)   Developing Cooperative Sales Agreements

Organizations that can leverage strong brand recognition to offer value to potential partners.

• Alignment with the overall organizational mission
• Mutually beneficial reciprocity expectations
• Additional contract and clause requirements

Reciprocal selling agreements are another way to introduce offerings to consumers through another channel. Amazon began using this strategy recently when they acquired Whole Foods as an extension of their Amazon Fresh service to provide quick delivery of groceries to Amazon Prime members in select cities. This type of reciprocity is a victory for both Amazon and Whole Foods, which can increase revenue margins for both brands through cooperation.

(9)   Diversifying Offerings

Organizations with established offerings and well-honed research and development capabilities.

• Assessment of the possibility for sales cannibalization
• Strategic marketing resources to align and promote new offerings
• Understanding of new industry competition variables
• Additional need for experienced sales personnel

Finding lucrative complementary offerings for top-selling products and services can be a shrewd way to encourage revenue growth. Identifying consumers’ needs and filling in the gaps with offerings that help sell main revenue drivers, boosts overall revenue by increasing average customer lifetime value.

(10)  Repositioning Offerings

Organizations with versatile offerings that can fulfill an array of needs or provide flexible solutions for consumers.

• Additional marketing resources
• Ongoing specialized sales training needs
• Audience research to identify product use capabilities

For products and services that can be used by consumers to fulfill multiple needs or use-case scenarios, repositioning offerings to target each of these uses and audiences is a clever way to increase revenue. By targeting specific uses individually, marketing and sales messaging can be customized to address specific needs, wants, and apprehensions. The result is a more effective and adaptable selling strategy.

(11)  Modernizing Legacy Offerings

Brands with stagnant offerings and organizations with an aversion to change.

• Preservation of existing offerings to retain existing customers, where appropriate
• Brand repositioning potential
• Increased marketing collateral demands
• Assessment of channel expansion possibilities
• Potential sales retraining requirements

Replacing or updating traditional products and services is a sound way to use legacy offerings to increase revenue. Using previously successful offerings as the basis to launch a growth strategy provides a revenue safety net to safeguard against possible failures. 

(12)  Securing Recurring Revenue

Organizations with offerings conducive to subscription-based usage.

• Increased payment system demands
• Additional accounts receivable staffing
• Increased focus on customer experience

Creating recurring subscriptions or ongoing contracts is another way to use existing offerings to drive revenue. By taking the onus away from consumers to decide when to purchase again, organizations can both secure future revenue and increase the likelihood of developing brand loyal customers.

(13)  Focusing on Product Penetration

Organizations with brand loyal customers and a breadth of offerings.

• Additional staff needed to solidify customer relationships
• Specialized marketing tactics to engage existing customers

Unlike market penetration, which focuses on selling the same offerings to more consumers, product penetration aims to get existing customers to purchase more of an organization’s offerings. This means providing complementary products and services that customers can subsequently purchase, even after buying items that are not readily consumed. For some organizations this involves expanding offerings, whereas for others it involves engaging in mutually beneficial partnerships. In other instances, it simply requires pivoting an existing marketing strategy to convince consumers that they will benefit from taking advantage of other offerings as well.

(14)  Increasing Customer Retention

Organizations with a sizeable customer base and substantial post-sales support methodology.

• Shifting marketing emphasis from customer acquisition to retention      -  Increased focus on customer experience
• Effect on sales team compensation and performance objectives

Retaining existing customers will always be more cost effective than acquiring new customers, which makes it an obvious revenue growth strategy. However, the nuances involved in achieving this objective require sales, marketing, and customer experience team buy-in. While marketing teams are typically open to changing their strategic focus towards supporting customer retention, sales teams often oppose the proposition due to concerns regarding compensation. Without a change to compensation structure to reward increases in customer lifetime value, sales teams are likely to act independently to protect their own interests. When collaborative buy-in is achieved, customer retention drives immediate revenue growth while simultaneously securing sustainable future growth by developing brand loyalty and advocacy.

(15)  Dominating the Mobile Experience

Organizations with an increasing mobile consumer base or target demographic.

• Technological upgrades needed to establish and maintain the mobile experience
• A complementary tech-savvy focus among employees

Encouraging ecommerce mobile shopping and utilizing app-based experiences are at the heart of a thriving mobile strategy. While some organizations are hesitant to enter the mobile arena due to the complexity of offerings or historically low-tech reputation of their industries, supporting mobile users is essential for growth in today’s economy. However, providing a haphazard mobile experience is often worse than not offering one at all, which means that the right technological savvy and support must comprise an effective mobile strategy.

(16)  Nurturing Brand Advocates

Organizations with brand loyal customers that are willing to engage.

• Implementation of customer rewards programs and incentives
• Engagement tactics that meet customers where they thrive

Fostering brand advocacy is both a revenue strategy and a reputation management strategy. Nurturing customer relationships encourages brand loyalty, increasing revenue figures organically from the brand advocates themselves and their personal networks. Brand advocates are more likely to defend the brand in times of turmoil or crisis, making them an indispensable asset. However, brand advocate creation is not simply achieved through offering purchase incentives and other superficial tokens. It requires the kind of strategic planning that weaves through every customer experience from sales and marketing to technical support and billing. Building brand advocates also involves meeting customers on their own terms – on the platforms and at the moments when they want to engage.

(17)  Developing New Partnerships

Organizations with a collaborative spirit that can benefit from outsourcing functions or capabilities.

• Internal staffing implications
• Availability of complementary organizations willing to engage in partnerships
• Legal considerations for partnership agreements
• Effect on future hiring

Pairing with other organizations expands an organization’s capabilities and sphere of influence without having to invest in additional in-house resources. While many business leaders may cringe at the thought of relinquishing control, the smartest executives understand the value of partnership. Refusing to enter into strategic partnerships can hamstring growth faster than any other mistake, which is why from a growth perspective, the only questions should be when to establish partnerships and with whom.

(18)  Engaging with Industry Influencers

Organizations where well-known personalities can be leveraged to encourage revenue growth.

• Adapting social media efforts
• Risk assessment of aligning with third-party individuals
• Legal considerations of social collaboration

Influencer marketing has been a hot topic in recent years due to its effectiveness in building industry authority and driving revenue. Collaborating with respected industry experts can be an effective way to build brand awareness, acquire new customers, and impress existing customers. However, working with independent third-party individuals also carries some risk, which means that legal implications should be considered before pursuing this strategy, especially in highly-regulated industries.

(19)  Expanding Geographic Reach

Brands with a limited geographic territory and demographic potential to expand.

• Supply chain and logistics considerations
• Additional staffing required at all levels of the business
• Individual market preference variations
• New market barriers to entry

Expanding geographically is one of the simplest and yet most complex ways to grow revenue. This method is easy to conceptualize and difficult to execute properly, which is why organizations undertake such long planning processes before opening additional franchises, distribution centers, warehouses, retail venues, and so on. Considering regional preferences, opportunities, and barriers is a mammoth task that requires the right strategic analysis by highly experienced professionals. The result when expansion is done successfully, however, can be a substantial windfall.

(20)  Offering Additional Payment Options and Terms

Organizations stifled by existing payment options and sales terms.

• Financial feasibility of payment expansion
• Legal considerations of extending payment terms

Opening up payment options and flexibility with payment terms can allow an organization to close additional sales that would otherwise have been unavailable. However, doing so often comes at a cost – either in the form of initial technology investments or the potential for bad debt when terms are not met as planned.

(21)  Eliminating Bad Customer Relationships

Organizations with revenue constriction due to unprofitable or toxic customer relationships.

• Social implications of eliminating customers
• Legal limitations on existing contracts

While it may be a controversial strategy, firing unprofitable customers is another way to improve revenue numbers. By pruning deadweight from the customer base, an organization can more effectively focus resources on profitable customer relationships. In 2007 Sprint famously utilized this strategy to cancel subscriptions for customers that were tying up support channels. They reasoned that they could not properly support more profitable customer contracts due to the burden that “bad customers” were placing on the system. This move came amidst a high customer turnover trend that Sprint was looking to reverse.

The proper revenue strategy aligns marketing, sales, and customer experience teams around a singular goal: drive profitability. Without a strategic roadmap, healthy and sustained growth simply cannot flourish, which is why organizations put so much emphasis on the planning process.

The right strategy will ensure you achieve your revenue and profit goals. It will be a foundation for selecting and developing the right team, the right software and tools, developing effective processes, remarkable products & services. The process begins by creating the right revenue strategies to align and leverage your sales, marketing, and customer experience teams.

If you are in a situation where you have the right people, resources and processes in place and are unsure why you are not achieving your revenue and profit goals, I welcome you to contact me here , or by phone or email.  We can talk about any of the strategies listed above or another that is of interest to you.

As you begin to formulate ideas and a plan, feel free to use our  B2B Business Growth Library .

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Examples of Sales Projections

How to write a 3-year business forecast, how to make a projected sales budget.

• What Is a Revenue Model?
• Appraising a Sole Proprietorship

A business revenue model answers the most important question about a new business: How will you make money? When you are first starting out, this may feel like a guessing game. However, the experience you have accumulated and the study of more established businesses can give you a wealth of information to begin your own revenue model. Once you begin bringing in money, use the revenue model as a living document to change your strategies, focusing on sources of income that work best, while revising your approach to those that aren't working well.

Gathering Data and Finding New Ideas

Gather your sales data if your business has already produced some income. Make a note of each type of income source and an estimate of the total revenue. If you have not yet launched your business, but worked in the same market for someone else in the past, make notes of the revenue sources your company had. The more sales history you have, the more accurate your revenue model will be.

Determine how many customers exist for your products or services by doing some market research. You can research this yourself using resources such as the most current Economic Census or by hiring a market research consultant.

Make a list of primary revenue models you can use. For example, you can sell products and services on a project-by-project basis. You can also charge a retainer to organizations that may need your services, such as lawyers and public relations firms do. You may also be able to offer services on a subscription basis.

Make a list of secondary revenue models you can use. For example, if you promote your business on your website, you may be able to add to your revenue by selling affiliate products related to your core business. You may also be able to make additional money by putting advertisements on your website. In addition, you may be able to charge a monthly fee for premium content on your website or license your content to other websites.

Make a list of other marketing methods used by other businesses. Examples include Facebook fan pages, online sales using a service such as PayPal, eBay, and indexing your business for local search results on websites such as Google.

Writing Your Revenue Model

Launch word processing software and create a new document for your revenue model or add it as a new section in your business plan.

Write down a second list of long-term revenue sources. These may eventually bring in a lot of income but are not enough themselves to sustain your business today. These may be secondary income sources such as website advertising or subscription-based services.

Create a new page for each revenue source and use the revenue source as the title for that page. Detail the steps you need to take to achieve the revenue goal you specified in the summary page. Specify how much time each will require to implement, as well as how much time will be required to keep it active.

Review your revenue model on a regular basis and adjust it as needed. If your business is just starting, you will have a much stronger understanding of your revenue after a month than you will before you began. Increase the amount of time you spend on the revenue sources that work well. Decrease the time you spend on revenue sources that are not working as well as you projected until you can revise your strategies for them.

• Corbett Barr: An In-Depth Guide to Online Business Revenu Models for Lifestyle Entrepreneurs

A published author and professional speaker, David Weedmark has advised businesses and governments on technology, media and marketing for more than 20 years. He has taught computer science at Algonquin College, has started three successful businesses, and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines throughout Canada and the United States.

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• 1 The Entries for Closing a Revenue Account in a Perpetual Inventory System
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• 3 How to Calculate Budgeted Revenue
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Run » finance, how to create a financial forecast for a startup business plan.

Financial forecasting allows you to measure the progress of your new business by benchmarking performance against anticipated sales and costs.

When starting a new business, a financial forecast is an important tool for recruiting investors as well as for budgeting for your first months of operating. A financial forecast is used to predict the cash flow necessary to operate the company day-to-day and cover financial liabilities.

Many lenders and investors ask for a financial forecast as part of a business plan; however, with no sales under your belt, it can be tricky to estimate how much money you will need to cover your expenses. Here’s how to begin creating a financial forecast for a new business.

[Read more: Startup 2021: Business Plan Financials ]

Start with a sales forecast

A sales forecast attempts to predict what your monthly sales will be for up to 18 months after launching your business. Creating a sales forecast without any past results is a little difficult. In this case, many entrepreneurs make their predictions using industry trends, market analysis demonstrating the population of potential customers and consumer trends. A sales forecast shows investors and lenders that you have a solid understanding of your target market and a clear vision of who will buy your product or service.

A sales forecast typically breaks down monthly sales by unit and price point. Beyond year two of being in business, the sales forecast can be shown quarterly, instead of monthly. Most financial lenders and investors like to see a three-year sales forecast as part of your startup business plan.

Lower fixed costs mean less risk, which might be theoretical in business schools but are very concrete when you have rent and payroll checks to sign.

Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software

Create an expenses budget

An expenses budget forecasts how much you anticipate spending during the first years of operating. This includes both your overhead costs and operating expenses — any financial spending that you anticipate during the course of running your business.

Most experts recommend breaking down your expenses forecast by fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are things such as rent and payroll, while variable costs change depending on demand and sales — advertising and promotional expenses, for instance. Breaking down costs into these two categories can help you better budget and improve your profitability.

"Lower fixed costs mean less risk, which might be theoretical in business schools but are very concrete when you have rent and payroll checks to sign," Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software, told Inc . "Most of your variable costs are in those direct costs that belong in your sales forecast, but there are also some variable expenses, like ads and rebates and such."

Project your break-even point

Together, your expenses budget and sales forecast paints a picture of your profitability. Your break-even projection is the date at which you believe your business will become profitable — when more money is earned than spent. Very few businesses are profitable overnight or even in their first year. Most businesses take two to three years to be profitable, but others take far longer: Tesla , for instance, took 18 years to see its first full-year profit.

Lenders and investors will be interested in your break-even point as a projection of when they can begin to recoup their investment. Likewise, your CFO or operations manager can make better decisions after measuring the company’s results against its forecasts.

[Read more: ​​ Startup 2021: Writing a Business Plan? Here’s How to Do It, Step by Step ]

Develop a cash flow projection

A cash flow statement (or projection, for a new business) shows the flow of dollars moving in and out of the business. This is based on the sales forecast, your balance sheet and other assumptions you’ve used to create your expenses projection.

“If you are starting a new business and do not have these historical financial statements, you start by projecting a cash-flow statement broken down into 12 months,” wrote Inc . The cash flow statement will include projected cash flows from operating, investing and financing your business activities.

Keep in mind that most business plans involve developing specific financial documents: income statements, pro formas and a balance sheet, for instance. These documents may be required by investors or lenders; financial projections can help inform the development of those statements and guide your business as it grows.

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8 revenue stream examples for your business

The coronavirus pandemic has emphasized the need to diversify revenue streams. Having all your eggs in one basket and depending on one single revenue stream can be risky, especially in the current climate. While you already have your revenue stream, there are ways to identify new opportunities and diversify your income. 

If you can tap into different ways to generate revenue, you can keep your income flowing and put your business in a more secure position going forward. By understanding the revenue streams available, you can dive deep into your business to identify opportunities to make money.

In this article, we’re going to look at how you can target new customers, create new revenue streams and stay ahead of the competition. 

• What is a revenue stream? 
• The importance of revenue streams 
• How to choose the right type of revenue stream for your business 
• 8 revenue stream examples

What is a revenue stream? 

​​Revenue streams are sources where your business generates money. The sources of income vary depending on your type of business. A revenue stream is not a business model, but it does influence your business model and decisions. Here’s a breakdown of the difference between a business model, revenue stream, and revenue model: 

• Revenue stream – the source of your company’s income 
• Revenue model – the strategy of managing the revenue streams 
• Business models – the structure of the company including your revenue model and streams and how everything works together 

Often, when talking about revenue streams, these three terms are used a lot and it’s easy to confuse them. A business can have a single or multiple revenue streams, depending on the business model. When you’re looking at your revenue model, you’re diving deeper into elements like price and your value offering. Your business model takes everything into account, including your revenue streams and model. It’s a way of optimizing your business so that all elements work together to maximize profits. 

An example of a company that has multiple revenue streams is the apparel brand, Lululmeon. First, they have eCommerce and digital sales. But, they also sell wholesale products to health clubs, gyms, and fitness centers to increase brand image. Other streams of revenue include sales from temporary shop locations and showrooms. The brand has also branched out into the home fitness world with the Lululemon Mirror, after buying the fitness startup Mirror last year for $500 million.  

The importance of revenue streams 

Naturally, revenue streams are important because you need an income. It’s no surprise that revenue streams are essential, but they do more than just generate money for your business. You can use revenue streams as a way to evaluate performance across different areas of the business. For any business, revenue is a key performance indicator (KPI). 

By having a clear understanding of your revenue streams, you can track patterns and generate revenue projections across the business. If you can spot changes, trends, or dips in income, you can identify the cause and find out where you need to spend more time. Through a good understanding of the different types of revenue streams, you can identify opportunities to make more money. 

There is a clear need to diversify revenue streams to help reduce risk in an economic downturn. Advances in technology and a shift to digital transformation across most industries mean that there are new ways to diversify your current products and portfolio. From adding a subscription service to offering online workshops and training for customers, you can diversify revenue streams to target new customer segments.

How to choose the right type of revenue stream for your business 

As a startup, you may have to rely on one single source of revenue. But, the quicker you can diversify your revenue streams, the safer your business will be in the long run. Because if your one revenue stream dries up, your business could be in trouble. One of the biggest examples of a company that uses multiple revenue streams to drive growth is Amazon. The online retailer has eCommerce sales, Prime subscription, Amazon Music, AWS, and audible memberships. Of course, you don’t have to be a massive company like Amazon to develop multiple revenue streams. 

The best revenue streams for your business depend on your assets, who your customers are, and your current main source of income. With various types of revenue models and streams available, the right revenue streams can differ. At a high level, a company can generate revenue from transactional revenue from a one-off payment like sales or through recurring revenue like a subscription. 

Here are three factors to consider when choosing your revenue stream: 

• Value proposition – your revenue stream should connect with your value proposition. The value that your product or service delivers should align with your revenue streams. 
• The market – your customer base and market fit will determine your revenue streams. If you target individual customers, a subscription service would make sense. But if you’re a software company, then licensing your service could be more suitable. 
• Competitors – analyze how your competition generates revenue. You can study their strategies, mistakes, and wins to help you determine your own revenue streams. 

A useful tool to help you understand your business model is the Business Model Canvas (BMC). It helps you to visualize and assess your business model and capture value. A BMC includes elements like value proposition, revenue streams, customer segments, and channels to connect the building blocks of your business. Every value proposition should connect with a revenue stream and customer segment. By evaluating your business model as a whole, you can determine the most suitable revenue streams for your business. 

8 revenue stream examples 

There are several ways businesses can make money. Typically, there are pros and cons to each type of revenue stream. Depending on your value proposition and customers, one revenue stream may be more suitable for you than another. Here are eight examples of revenue streams that represent broad categories of ways your business can make money. 

1. Asset sale 

Asset sale or selling assets is one of the most mainstream ways that businesses make money across multiple industries. Your business sells something and then your customers own it. An asset sale also occurs when a business owner sells their company. Usually, it’s a one-off transaction sale. Once the sale is complete, typically, a customer can use the product, resell or even destroy it as they own the asset. The sale of a physical product generates revenue for the business. 

The Customer Engagement Playbook for Your Fitness Business

2. usage fees .

Usage fees are how much a company charges to use its service. The customer pays you based on the amount they use the service. For example, a phone company charges customers for a certain number of minutes and data. Typically, customers pay a monthly fee to access phone service. Another good example is a car rental. The customer pays a car rental company to rent a car for how many miles they travel. A postal carrier charges you to deliver a parcel from one location to another. Essentially, with usage fees, the more customers use a service, the more they pay. 

3. Leasing and renting 

This revenue stream is built around customers using a temporary item for a fixed amount of time. For this, you’re giving customers exclusive use of an asset for a specific amount of time. Examples of businesses that use this revenue stream are Airbnb or car rental companies. 

Another example of this revenue stream is Rent the Runway, which allows members to rent designer clothes for a specific period of time. The designer rental brand offers both a monthly subscription membership and one-off rentals to customers. Memberships start at $135/month and give users access to up to eight items per month. You can see how they are tapping into multiple revenue streams to develop both recurring revenue and transaction revenue from one-off rental purchases. 

4. Advertising fees 

Advertising fees are a revenue stream where you make money by charging to showcase a product, service, or brand on your online or offline company assets. Essentially anywhere you charge a fee to advertise and promote another business. An advertising-based revenue stream is often used by businesses that have websites that attract a lot of traffic. You generate revenue by selling ad space. 

The benefit of this is that if you have a high-traffic space, online or offline, you can monetize it relatively instantly. The downside is that adverts are everywhere nowadays and you want to consider if you want to distract your customers with an advert. Examples of advertising revenue include incorporating Google Adsense on your website or adverts on your podcast or YouTube channel. 

5. Subscription fees 

Many businesses utilize a subscription-based revenue stream. Revenue is generated through customers paying for ongoing access to a service. Examples of companies that use subscription fees are Netflix, Shopify, Adobe as well as gym memberships, and fitness studios.

 In general, these types of revenue streams tend to be lower monthly amounts so customers continue to pay as it’s something you can easily forget about. As a subscription, customers pay a recurring fee to access a service. Other businesses that use this revenue stream are subscription boxes and some eCommerce companies. 

6. Licensing 

Licensing usually involves one-time customer payments that give a single user or group of users access to a software product. While the owner keeps the copyright, the third party can use the content for free. In the last few years, we’ve seen some major players move away from the licensing model to a subscription-based format. 

Companies like Adobe and Microsoft have moved a lot of products to subscription services. But licensing is still a popular option in photography, music, and video games where customers pay to use and access content, while the owner still retains the ownership rights. 

7. Brokerage fees 

When companies match people with a certain service, they can receive a brokerage fee. In a traditional sense, real estate agents and real estate brokers match people with property and receive a brokerage fee. Other examples of businesses that take brokerage fees are Uber, Booking.com, and Airbnb. They all take a fee matching customers to service. 

The benefit of this revenue stream is that you don’t have to deliver the product or service, you simply match the customer with the right business or service. The downside is that this sort of revenue stream really only applies to certain businesses and it takes a lot of time and effort to set up. Any business that acts as an intermediary takes a percentage fee for its services. 

8. Consulting or services 

The people on your team are also an asset. An asset doesn’t have to be a physical item. You can leverage your team in the form of consulting or services. Examples of this include financial advisors and marketing agencies or consultants. These types of businesses can include both retainer and project work. 

Retainer work is similar to a subscription setup where customers would pay a certain amount each month for a specific service. Offering services or consulting is a good way to create a revenue stream without creating brand new assets or developing a new product. 

In summary 

The right revenue stream for your business depends on your value proposition, customers, and your main source of income. While some revenue streams may not be relevant for your business, others could be opportunities to diversify your income and increase future stability. 

A great additional revenue stream is one that doesn’t add too much complexity to your current business model. By evaluating your current assets and surveying your existing customers, you can look to identify a new business revenue stream to expand your company. 

Eamonn Curley

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Developing a Revenue Plan for Your Business

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read the disclaimer

You’re passionate about your business, and you love serving your customers. 

But at the end of the day, life is a little (or maybe a LOT) sweeter if your business is actually making money .

With countless hours spent collaborating, creating, and toiling, you deserve to have a clear plan in place to reach your revenue goals and experience success in your business. 

A Revenue Plan – Made Easy

Not a numbers person? No worries!

Breaking down your revenue goals into real-life examples can get you out of calculator-mode and help you envision your business’s revenue journey in a new light. 

The following examples are meant to put things into perspective and help you see the possibilities.

Revenue Scenario #1 — How a Product or Service-Based Biz Can Achieve 50k per year

Your Options: 

A business like yours, that offers a product or service, is often trying to crack the code on making consistent revenue.

Many times, a service provider trades hours for dollars and struggles to break free of that limiting cycle. Likewise, a product-based business gets stuck in a launch and relaunch pattern. 

Seeing different pathways to revenue in an easy-to-read list like the one above can help to make wise decisions about the types of products or services you offer. 

• Should you uplevel your signature service so you don’t need to sell as many packages?
• Should your signature product include a bonus to justify a higher price point?

Asking hard questions like these are key to building a business that provides a consistent, thriving income. 

Revenue Scenario #2 — How a Membership Site Structure Can Achieve 50k per year 

Membership programs generate consistent, reliable revenue. This breakdown can help you adjust your products and offerings to achieve even bigger goals. 

Are you feeling a little more confident? Are things looking more feasible when you put them into perspective like this?

Before You Choose Your Revenue Plan – Know the Numbers

Whenever you formulate a plan, whether it’s related to your business or creating a new workout routine, you MUST start by defining your goals. 

Ask yourself:

• What am I ultimately trying to accomplish? 

Whether your goals are to:

• drive traffic to your website
• sell more of your product or offer
• or build your list or audience

..you’ve got to have a firm grasp on the numbers! 

Grow Your Revenue By the Numbers

Remember this: reach more of the right people = you’ll reach more of your revenue goals

I talk more in-depth about this here and the 3 things you need to simplify your business growth.

Some questions you might ask yourself are:

• Is my email list large enough to reach the number of potential members or customers I need?
• How can I increase the value of my membership to justify an increase in price?

Remember that the more people (your ideal customer) who visit your website and subscribe to your email list, means the more sales you’ll end up making.

Understanding how many people you really need on your list to hit your sales goal is key to formulating a strong marketing plan. 

The general rule of thumb, to start out with, is that 2% of your email list will end up converting into buyers. Just 2%!

This means marketing and casting your net out WIDE to gain more of the right subscribers is crucial to formulating your revenue roadmap. 

How Smart Marketing Will Help You Reach Your Revenue Goals

• Click here for a free guide to Pinterest Marketing
• Click here to take my free Instagram Marketing workshop
• Click here to grab my free email list growth plan

Now that you have some free marketing tools –  I want your to know that the job of marketing is to get your audience to give you an easy  FULL BODY “YES!” 

One of the best ways to get your audience excited to throw money at you is by offering a transformation! Aim to meet your audience right where they are — in their pain — and promise them your SOLUTION

Show what you have to offer. Show its VALUE , and give PROOF that it actually works. (showing proof is key!)

Your goal in marketing through social media or email is to make the buying decision EASY by making a VERY CLEAR OFFER .

Why does this method work? Because our brains are wired this way! 

• Transformation. The emotional side of our brain responds to the promise that a product will transform our lives in some way. Start with explaining the transformation your product will bring. Acknowledge your audience’s pain. 
• Value. As we prove the value of our product to the customer, they learn how it’s different from the rest and form an even stronger emotional attachment. 
• Proof. After they’re emotionally invested, the reasoning side of their brain decides the product will work when it hears proof. 
• Clarity. Make your HOW TO BUY clear and prominent. Confusion leads to lost opportunities, but a clear pathway to purchasing leads to more sales and more $$$$!

Convert More Sales Using AIDA

Once you’ve developed your reveue plan, it’s time to consider AIDA. This is a marketing framework proven to get results and it stands for:

• Awareness. It’s so important to create a buzz around your brand. How and where can you make people aware of your products? On social media? Ads? Blog posts? How will they begin to trust you as the expert?
• Interest: Beyond just being aware of your product, how are you going to create interest and make people long for what you’re offering? Create urgency by offering limited spots or providing short-term bonuses. 
• Decision: Offer proof and testimonies to convince them. Take their hand and help them make that final decision to purchase.
• Action: Invite your audience to BUY. People will sit on the sidelines until you invite them in a compelling way to take action.  

These steps help you think through the process of taking your offer and creating a sales funnel to meet your revenue goal!

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LOOKING FOR MORE WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR REVENUE IN 2020? HERE’S YOUR NEXT STEP:

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When you purchase the bundle , you’ll not only get access to the incredible video workshops, but you’ll receive our actionable workbooks.

There are SO MANY goodies in the workbooks to get those revenue goals MET in 2020, including The Revenue Goals Spreadsheet! This tool includes a product pricing calculator where you can enter in how much you WANT to make yearly and see the breakdown of how much that ends up being each month/week/day!. It’s included when you purchase the online workshop.

Click here to grab the Creative Boss Method Workshops (available for a limited time)

Check out these Business and revenue tips:

• 30 Ideas for Instagram posts when you don’t have any ideas
• How to build a passive income sales funnel
• 8 ways to monetize Instagram
• Your top questions answered about Instagram
• Why you should create an Instagram Challenge, and how
• How to hack the Instagram Algorithm

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What Is A Revenue Model? – Components & Types

Entrepreneurs spend months designing and planning how their business model will work and create value in the market.

This business model is made up of components – the value created; the operating model , which specifies how the business works and operates; and the revenue model, which specifies how the business makes money and how much does it spends in doing so.

While the operational blueprint is important for the business, a blueprint of the revenue model is equally important as it decides the feasibility and long-term projections of the business by stating its money-making process.

But what is revenue model and why is it important?

Let’s find out.

What is a Revenue Model?

A revenue model is a conceptual structure that states and explains the revenue earning strategy of the business. It includes the offerings of value, the revenue generation techniques, the revenue sources, and the target consumer of the product offered.

Revenue can be generated from a myriad of sources, can be in the form of commission, markup, arbitrage, rent, bids, etc. and can include recurring payments or just a one-time payment. A revenue model is that part of the business model that includes every aspect of the revenue generation strategy of the business.

A revenue model is how a business makes money.

A revenue model is important for the company’s long-term business projections as it gives an overview of the company’s current and future potential to earn profits.

Importance Of A Defined Revenue Model

The revenue model is just like a fuel system to a car. While the engine or the operating model is a necessity, a car cannot move for long if its fuel system is damaged.

Hence, a well-defined revenue model is important for any business to –

• Operate and expand
• Remain in the market for long
• Make profits

Components of a revenue model

Revenue model forms an integral part of the business model covering the financial aspect of the business. It has two major components –

• Revenue streams: This includes all the direct and indirect streams that brings in revenue to the business.
• Cost structure: It includes all the fixed and variable expenses that the business incurs to do its operations and generate revenue.

In simple terms, a revenue model elaborates on how the business makes money and how much does it spends to make so, indicating the profits it makes or intends to make.

Types of Revenue Models

With the advent of the internet, the revenue models of many companies now include countless income sources from the digital world. Nevertheless, all of the income sources, whether online or offline, can be confined to 10 types of revenue models on the basis of revenue source

Markup is the most common and oldest revenue model seen among the businesses. It involves setting up the selling price of the good by adding profits and overhead charges to its cost price. This revenue model is common among retailers , wholesalers , etc. who act as middlemen and buy the products from manufacturers/other parties before selling it to others.

However, manufacturers also use markup model to earn money by selling the good at a price which includes profits over and above the cost involved in manufacturing it.

Arbitrage revenue model makes use of the price difference in two different markets of the same good. It involves buying security, currency, and/or commodity in one market and simultaneously selling the same in another market at a higher price and making profits from the temporary price difference .

Licencing revenue model is common among inventors, creators, and intellectual property owners which grant a license to use their name, products or services at a predetermined or recurring cost. The revenue model is common among many software companies and legally protected intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights) owners which grant a license limited by time, territory, distribution, volume, etc. to anyone who fulfils their requirements and pays for it.

A commission revenue earning model is a type of transactional revenue model where a party charges commission for every transaction/action it mediates between two parties or any lead it provides to the other party. It is one of the most common revenue earning strategy among the online marketplaces and aggregators where they provide a platform for selling items digitally and charge a commission as a percentage or fixed price on every item sold.

Affiliates , brokers, and auctioneers are also seen working on a commission-based revenue model.

Rent/Lease revenue model is common where a physical asset is involved. This revenue earning strategy involves recurring (rent) or one time (lease) payment for temporary use of the asset.

Subscription

A subscription model is a great example of recurring revenue strategy. This is a common strategy among SAAS, entertainment services, and online hosting companies like Netflix ,  Youtube  etc. where they provide the specified service for a pre-determined periodic cost.

Advertising

An advertising revenue model is usually adopted by media houses and information providers which usually earn money by including advertisements in the content provided. This revenue model is widespread in both offline and online businesses and the company makes money by charging the advertiser: per size of the space offered, thousand impressions or per click on the advertisement.

Fee-for-service

Unlike other service-based models, a fee-for-service model charges the customers for the type of and times the service is provided. This is pay-as-you-go or pay-per-usage revenue model where the customer pays only for the services he actually used. This revenue model is common in telecom and cloud-based services industries.

An interest-based revenue strategy or an investment based revenue strategy is common among banks. Banks usually generate revenue in the form of interest on their offerings (loans).

Many companies provide their products and services free of cost and rely totally on donations paid to them by their customers. These companies hardly make any profits as donations usually cover only their operating costs. Wikipedia is one such company which relies on donations.

Symmetric Vs Asymmetric Revenue Models

Symmetric revenue model.

In symmetric revenue models, the user of the business’s offering is also the customer who pays for it. Generally, this model involves a single sided flow of offering and money – offering from the business to the customer and money from the customer to the business.

For example, a retailer charges a markup on every good sold to the customer, or an agent charges brokerage for every deal made on behalf of the client. The flow of this revenue model is simple and direct where only two parties are involved – business and the customer.

Asymmetric Revenue Model

In asymmetric revenue models, the user of the business’s offering is not the customer who pays for it. This company uses a two-fold revenue model where it monetises the data provided by its offering’s users and sells the same to another customer segment.

For example, Facebook users don’t pay for the service they use. But the company earns its revenue from advertisements where the data of the users is provided to the advertisers to target ad in a better way.

Go On, Tell Us What You Think!

Did we miss something?  Come on! Tell us what you think about our article on revenue model in the comments section.

A startup consultant, digital marketer, traveller, and philomath. Aashish has worked with over 20 startups and successfully helped them ideate, raise money, and succeed. When not working, he can be found hiking, camping, and stargazing.

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24 Best Sample Business Plans & Examples to Help You Write Your Own

Published: August 17, 2023

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Reading sample business plans is essential when you’re writing your own. As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, you’ll learn how to write one that gets your business off on the right foot, convinces investors to provide funding, and confirms your venture is sustainable for the long term.

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But what does a business plan look like? And how do you write one that is viable and convincing? Let's review the ideal business plan formally, then take a look at business plan templates and samples you can use to inspire your own.

Business Plan Format

Ask any successful sports coach how they win so many games, and they’ll tell you they have a unique plan for every single game. The same logic applies to business. If you want to build a thriving company that can pull ahead of the competition, you need to prepare for battle before breaking into a market.

Business plans guide you along the rocky journey of growing a company. Referencing one will keep you on the path toward success. And if your business plan is compelling enough, it can also convince investors to give you funding.

With so much at stake, you might be wondering, "Where do I start? How should I format this?"

Typically, a business plan is a document that will detail how a company will achieve its goals.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Fill out the form to get your free template.

Most business plans include the following sections:

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is arguably the most important section of the entire business plan. Essentially, it's the overview or introduction, written in a way to grab readers' attention and guide them through the rest of the business plan. This is important, because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.

Most executive summaries include:

• Mission statement
• Company history and leadership
• Competitive advantage overview
• Financial projections
• Company goals

Keep in mind you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. So, keep the executive summary clear and brief, including only the most important takeaways.

Executive Summary Business Plan Examples

This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template:

And the executive summary below tells potential investors a short story that covers all the most important details this business plan will cover in a succinct and interesting way.

Image Source

Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary

• Clearly define a problem, and explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
• Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
• Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
• Customize your summary to your audience. For example, emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists.

Check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary for more guidance.

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market. Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will your product fill that gap?

In this section, you might include:

• The size of the market
• Current or potential market share
• Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
• Where the gap is
• What caused the gap
• How you intend to fill it

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, and SOM analysis and perform market research on your industry. You may also benefit from creating a SWOT analysis to get some of the insights for this section.

Market Opportunity Business Plan Example

This example uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.

Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section

• Focus on demand and potential for growth.
• Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
• Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
• Refer to reliable sources.
• Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.

3. Competitive Landscape

Speaking of market share, you'll need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are. After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you'll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another. Performing a competitive analysis can help you uncover:

• Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing
• Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle
• Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points
• The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers

Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example

The competitive landscape section of the business plan below shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are. It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location, which shows useful experience in this specific industry. This can help build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.

Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape

• Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
• Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
• Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
• Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
• Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
• Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.

4. Target Audience

This section will describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience?

If your immediate answer is "everyone," you'll need to dig deeper. Ask yourself:

• What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
• What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
• Why are your offerings valuable to them?

It can be helpful to build a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear on why you're targeting them.

Target Audience Business Plan Example

The example below uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.

Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section

• Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
• Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience , then show why your product is a useful solution.
• Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
• Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
• Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
• Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you'll discuss how you'll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. You might consider including information on:

• The brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it
• The goal targets you aim to achieve
• The metrics you'll use to measure success
• The channels and distribution tactics you'll use

It can help to already have a marketing plan built out to help you with this part of your business plan.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler. It offers a comprehensive picture of how it plans to use digital marketing to promote the community.

Tips for Writing Your Marketing Strategy

• Include a section about how you believe your brand vision will appeal to customers.
• Add the budget and resources you'll need to put your plan in place.
• Outline strategies for specific marketing segments.
• Connect strategies to earlier sections like target audience and competitive analysis.
• Review how your marketing strategy will scale with the growth of your business.
• Cover a range of channels and tactics to highlight your ability to adapt your plan in the face of change.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you'll review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services. Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you're positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use . It can even help them gain better insight into your business model.

Key Features and Benefits Business Plan Example

The example below outlines products and services for this business, along with why these qualities will attract the audience.

Tips for Writing Your Key Features and Benefits

• Emphasize why and how your product or service offers value to customers.
• Use metrics and testimonials to support the ideas in this section.
• Talk about how your products and services have the potential to scale.
• Think about including a product roadmap.
• Focus on customer needs, and how the features and benefits you are sharing meet those needs.
• Offer proof of concept for your ideas, like case studies or pilot program feedback.
• Proofread this section carefully, and remove any jargon or complex language.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. For this reason, you might outline:

• The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service
• Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's
• (If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more
• (If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost
• When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

Pricing and Revenue Business Plan Example

This business plan example begins with an overview of the business revenue model, then shows proposed pricing for key products.

Tips for Writing Your Pricing and Revenue Section

• Get specific about your pricing strategy. Specifically, how you connect that strategy to customer needs and product value.
• If you are asking a premium price, share unique features or innovations that justify that price point.
• Show how you plan to communicate pricing to customers.
• Create an overview of every revenue stream for your business and how each stream adds to your business model as a whole.
• Share plans to develop new revenue streams in the future.
• Show how and whether pricing will vary by customer segment and how pricing aligns with marketing strategies.
• Restate your value proposition and explain how it aligns with your revenue model.

8. Financials

This section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to figure out funding strategies, investment opportunities, and more. According to Forbes , you'll want to include three main things:

• Profit/Loss Statement - This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
• Cash Flow Statement - This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to give insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
• Balance Sheet - This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

While some business plans might include more or less information, these are the key details you'll want to include.

Financials Business Plan Example

This balance sheet example shows the level of detail you will need to include in the financials section of your business plan:

Tips for Writing Your Financials Section

• Growth potential is important in this section too. Using your data, create a forecast of financial performance in the next three to five years.
• Include any data that supports your projections to assure investors of the credibility of your proposal.
• Add a break-even analysis to show that your business plan is financially practical. This information can also help you pivot quickly as your business grows.
• Consider adding a section that reviews potential risks and how sensitive your plan is to changes in the market.
• Triple-check all financial information in your plan for accuracy.
• Show how any proposed funding needs align with your plans for growth.

As you create your business plan, keep in mind that each of these sections will be formatted differently. Some may be in paragraph format, while others could be charts or graphs.

Business Plan Types

The formats above apply to most types of business plans. That said, the format and structure of your plan will vary by your goals for that plan. So, we’ve added a quick review of different business plan types. For a more detailed overview, check out this post .

1. Startups

Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas.

If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business. You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration .

2. Feasibility Studies

Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.

3. Internal Use

You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. Internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.

4. Strategic Initiatives

Another business plan that's often for sharing internally is a strategic business plan. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.

5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning

When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.

Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.

Sample Business Plan Templates

Now that you know what's included and how to format a business plan, let's review some templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template..

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline give this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow. Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why We Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

We also created a business plan template for entrepreneurs.

The template is designed as a guide and checklist for starting your own business. You’ll learn what to include in each section of your business plan and how to do it. There’s also a list for you to check off when you finish each section of your business plan.

Strong game plans help coaches win games and help businesses rocket to the top of their industries. So if you dedicate the time and effort required to write a workable and convincing business plan, you’ll boost your chances of success and even dominance in your market.

This business plan kit is essential for the budding entrepreneur who needs a more extensive document to share with investors and other stakeholders. It not only includes sections for your executive summary, product line, market analysis, marketing plan, and sales plan, but it also offers hands-on guidance for filling out those sections.

3. LiveFlow’s Financial Planning Template with built-in automation

This free template from LiveFlow aims to make it easy for businesses to create a financial plan and track their progress on a monthly basis. The P&L Budget versus Actual format allows users to track their revenue, cost of sales, operating expenses, operating profit margin, net profit, and more.

The summary dashboard aggregates all of the data put into the financial plan sheet and will automatically update when changes are made. Instead of wasting hours manually importing your data to your spreadsheet, LiveFlow can also help you to automatically connect your accounting and banking data directly to your spreadsheet, so your numbers are always up-to-date.

With the dashboard, you can view your runway, cash balance, burn rate, gross margins, and other metrics. Having a simple way to track everything in one place will make it easier to complete the financials section of your business plan.

This is a fantastic template to track performance and alignment internally and to create a dependable process for documenting financial information across the business. It’s highly versatile and beginner-friendly. It’s especially useful if you don’t have an accountant on the team. (We always recommend you do, but for new businesses, having one might not be possible.)

4. ThoughtCo’s Sample Business Plan

One of the more financially oriented sample business plans in this list, BPlan’s free business plan template dedicates many of its pages to your business’s financial plan and financial statements.

After filling this business plan out, your company will truly understand its financial health and the steps you need to take to maintain or improve it.

We absolutely love this business plan template because of its ease-of-use and hands-on instructions (in addition to its finance-centric components). If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an entire business plan, consider using this template to help you with the process.

6. Harvard Business Review’s "How to Write a Winning Business Plan"

Most sample business plans teach you what to include in your business plan, but this Harvard Business Review article will take your business plan to the next level — it teaches you the why and how behind writing a business plan.

With the guidance of Stanley Rich and Richard Gumpert, co-authors of " Business Plans That Win: Lessons From the MIT Enterprise Forum ", you'll learn how to write a convincing business plan that emphasizes the market demand for your product or service. You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.

This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of our favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.

7. HubSpot’s Complete Guide to Starting a Business

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know writing a business plan is one of the most challenging first steps to starting a business. Fortunately, with HubSpot's comprehensive guide to starting a business, you'll learn how to map out all the details by understanding what to include in your business plan and why it’s important to include them. The guide also fleshes out an entire sample business plan for you.

If you need further guidance on starting a business, HubSpot's guide can teach you how to make your business legal, choose and register your business name, and fund your business. It will also give small business tax information and includes marketing, sales, and service tips.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of starting a business, in addition to writing your business plan, with a high level of exactitude and detail. So if you’re in the midst of starting your business, this is an excellent guide for you. It also offers other resources you might need, such as market analysis templates.

8. Panda Doc’s Free Business Plan Template

PandaDoc’s free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

Once you fill it out, you’ll fully understand your business’ nitty-gritty details and how all of its moving parts should work together to contribute to its success.

This template has two things we love: comprehensiveness and in-depth instructions. Plus, it’s synced with PandaDoc’s e-signature software so that you and other stakeholders can sign it with ease. For that reason, we especially love it for those starting a business with a partner or with a board of directors.

9. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several free business plan templates that can be used to inspire your own plan. Before you get started, you can decide what type of business plan you need — a traditional or lean start-up plan.

Then, you can review the format for both of those plans and view examples of what they might look like.

We love both of the SBA’s templates because of their versatility. You can choose between two options and use the existing content in the templates to flesh out your own plan. Plus, if needed, you can get a free business counselor to help you along the way.

Top Business Plan Examples

Here are some completed business plan samples to get an idea of how to customize a plan for your business. We’ve chosen different types of business plan ideas to expand your imagination. Some are extensive, while others are fairly simple.

Take a look.

1. LiveFlow

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue. We included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

When it came to including marketing strategy in its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives. This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact.

"Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration," explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar .

Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here . You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

Sometimes all you need is a solid mission statement and core values to guide you on how to go about everything. You do this by creating a business plan revolving around how to fulfill your statement best. For example, Patagonia is an eco-friendly company, so their plan discusses how to make the best environmentally friendly products without causing harm.

A good mission statement should not only resonate with consumers but should also serve as a core value compass for employees as well.

Outdoor clothing retailer, Patagonia, has one of the most compelling mission statements we’ve seen:

"Together, let’s prioritise purpose over profit and protect this wondrous planet, our only home."

It reels you in from the start, and the environmentally friendly theme continues throughout the rest of the statement.

This mission goes on to explain that they are out to "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to protect nature."

Their mission statement is compelling and detailed, with each section outlining how they will accomplish their goal.

4. Vesta Home Automation

This is the kind of business plan you need when applying for business funds. It clearly illustrates the expected future of the company and how the business has been coming along over the years.

This executive summary for a smart home device startup is part of a business plan created by students at Mount Royal University . While it lacks some of the sleek visuals of the templates above, its executive summary does a great job of demonstrating how invested they are in the business.

Right away, they mention they’ve invested $200,000 into the company already, which shows investors they have skin in the game and aren’t just looking for someone else to foot the bill.

5. NALB Creative Center

This fictional business plan for an art supply store includes everything one might need in a business plan: an executive summary, a company summary, a list of services, a market analysis summary, and more. Due to its comprehensiveness, it’s an excellent example to follow if you’re opening a brick-and-mortar store and need to get external funding to start your business .

One of its most notable sections is its market analysis summary, which includes an overview of the population growth in the business’ target geographical area, as well as a breakdown of the types of potential customers they expect to welcome at the store. This sort of granular insight is essential for understanding and communicating your business’s growth potential. Plus, it lays a strong foundation for creating relevant and useful buyer personas .

It’s essential to keep this information up-to-date as your market and target buyer changes. For that reason, you should carry out market research as often as possible to ensure that you’re targeting the correct audience and sharing accurate information with your investors.

6. Curriculum Companion Suites (CSS)

If you’re looking for a SaaS business plan example, look no further than this business plan for a fictional educational software company called Curriculum Companion Suites. Like the business plan for the NALB Creative Center, it includes plenty of information for prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the business.

One of the most notable features of this business plan is the executive summary, which includes an overview of the product, market, and mission. The first two are essential for software companies because the product offering is so often at the forefront of the company’s strategy. Without that information being immediately available to investors and executives, then you risk writing an unfocused business plan.

It’s also essential to front-load your company’s mission if it explains your "Why?" In other words, why do you do what you do, and why should stakeholders care? This is an important section to include if you feel that your mission will drive interest in the business and its offerings.

7. Culina Sample Business Plan

Culina's sample business plan is an excellent example of how to lay out your business plan so that it flows naturally, engages readers, and provides the critical information investors and stakeholders need. You can also use this template as a guide while you're gathering important details. After looking at this sample, you'll have a better understanding of the data and research you need to do for your own business plan.

8. Plum Sample Business Plan

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What Is Revenue?

Understanding revenue.

• Formula and Calculation

Revenue vs. Income/Profit

Special considerations.

• Revenue FAQs
• Corporate Finance
• Financial Statements

Revenue Definition, Formula, Calculation, and Examples

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Yarilet Perez is an experienced multimedia journalist and fact-checker with a Master of Science in Journalism. She has worked in multiple cities covering breaking news, politics, education, and more. Her expertise is in personal finance and investing, and real estate.

Revenue is the money generated from normal business operations, calculated as the average sales price times the number of units sold. It is the top line (or gross income) figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income. Revenue is also known as sales on the income statement .

Key Takeaways

• Revenue, often referred to as sales or the top line, is the money received from normal business operations.
• Operating income is revenue (from the sale of goods or services) less operating expenses.
• Non-operating income is infrequent or nonrecurring income derived from secondary sources (e.g., lawsuit proceeds).
• Non-business entities such as governments, nonprofits, or individuals also report revenue, though calculations and sources for each differ.
• Revenue is only sale proceeds, while income or profit incorporate the expenses to generate revenue and report the net (not gross) earnings.

Investopedia / Matthew Collins

Revenue is money brought into a company by its business activities. There are different ways to calculate revenue, depending on the accounting method employed. Accrual accounting will include sales made on credit as revenue for goods or services delivered to the customer. Under certain rules, revenue is recognized even if payment has not yet been received.

It is necessary to check the cash flow statement to assess how efficiently a company collects money owed.  Cash accounting , on the other hand, will only count sales as revenue when payment is received. Cash paid to a company is known as a "receipt." It is possible to have receipts without revenue. For example, if the customer paid in advance for a service not yet rendered or undelivered goods, this activity leads to a receipt but not revenue.

Revenue is known as the top line because it appears first on a company's income statement. Net income, also known as the bottom line, is revenues minus expenses. There is a profit when revenues exceed expenses.

To increase profit, and hence earnings per share (EPS) for its shareholders, a company increases revenues and/or reduces expenses. Investors often consider a company's revenue and net income separately to determine the health of a business. Net income can grow while revenues remain stagnant because of cost-cutting.

Such a situation does not bode well for a company's long-term growth. When public companies report their quarterly earnings , two figures that receive a lot of attention are revenues and EPS. A company beating or missing analysts' revenue and earnings per share expectations can often move a stock's price.

Revenue may also be referred to as sales and is used in the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio —an alternative to the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio  that uses revenue in the denominator.

Types of Revenue

A company's revenue may be subdivided according to the divisions that generate it. For example, Toyota Motor Corporation may classify revenue across each type of vehicle. Alternatively, it can choose to group revenue by car type (i.e. compact vs. truck).

A company may also distinguish revenue between tangible and intangible product lines. For example, Apple products include iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Alternatively, Apple may be interested in separately analyzing its Apple Music, Apple TV+, or iCloud services.

Revenue can be divided into operating revenue —sales from a company's core business—and non-operating revenue which is derived from secondary sources. As these non-operating revenue sources are often unpredictable or nonrecurring, they can be referred to as one-time events or gains. For example, proceeds from the sale of an asset, a windfall from investments, or money awarded through litigation are non-operating revenue.

Formula and Calculation of Revenue

The formula and calculation of revenue will vary across companies, industries, and sectors. A service company will have a different formula than a retailer, while a company that does not accept returns may have different calculations than companies with return periods. Broadly speaking, the formula to calculate net revenue is:

Net Revenue = (Quantity Sold * Unit Price) - Discounts - Allowances - Returns

The main component of revenue is the quantity sold multiplied by the price. For a service company, this is the number of service hours multiplied by the billable service rate. For a retailer, this is the number of goods sold multiplied by the sales price.

The obvious constraint with this formula is a company that has a diversified product line. For example, Apple can sell a MacBook, iPhone, and iPad, each for a different price. Therefore, the net revenue formula should be calculated for each product or service, then added together to get a company's total revenue.

There are several components that reduce revenue reported on a company's financial statements in accordance to accounting guidelines. Discounts on the price offered, allowances awarded to customers, or product returns are subtracted from the total amount collected. Note that some components (i.e. discounts) should only be subtracted if the unit price used in the earlier part of the formula is at market (not discount) price.

One entity's revenue is often another entity's expense. For example, your personal household expense of $1,000 to buy the latest smartphone is $1,000 revenue for the phone company.

Example of Revenue

Microsoft boasts a diversified product line that contributes many types of revenue. The company defines its business in several different channels including:

• Productivity and Business Processes: Office products (commercial and consumer), LinkedIn, Dynamics products
• Intelligent Cloud: Server products and cloud services
• More Personal Computing: WIndows OEM, Windows Commercial, Xbox, Surface.

As shown below, Microsoft reported $49.36 billion during Q3 2022. High-level reporting requirements have Microsoft's income statement being shown between product revenue and service/other revenue.

In supplementary reports, Microsoft further clarifies revenue sources. For example, the breakdown of the $49.36 billion of revenue earned during Q3 2022 was split fairly evenly between the three product lines:

Many entities may report both revenue and income/profit. These two terms are used to report different accumulations of numbers.

Revenue is often the gross proceeds collected by an entity. It is the measurement of only income component of an entity's operations. For a business, revenue is all of the money it has earned.

Income/profit usually incorporates other facets of a business. For example, net income or incorporate expenses such as cost of goods sold, operating expenses, taxes, and interest expenses. While revenue is a gross amount focused just on the collection of proceeds, income or profit incorporate other aspects of a business that reports the net proceeds.

Recognizing Revenue: ASC 606

In 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board released Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The accounting standards update outlined new guidance on how companies must report revenue. The guidance requires an entity to recognize revenue in accordance with five steps:

• Identify the contract with the customer.
• Identify the performance obligation in the contract.
• Determine the contract price.
• Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligation(s) in the contract.
• Recognize revenue when the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

Government Revenue

In the case of government, revenue is the money received from taxation, fees, fines, inter-governmental grants or transfers, securities sales, mineral or resource rights, as well as any sales made. Governments collect revenue from citizens within its district and collections from other government entities.

Nonprofit Revenue

For nonprofits, revenues are its gross receipts. Its components include donations from individuals, foundations, and companies, grants from government entities, investments, and/or membership fees. Nonprofit revenue may be earned via fundraising events or unsolicited donations.

Real Estate Revenue

In terms of real estate investments, revenue refers to the income generated by a property, such as rent or parking fees or rent. When the operating expenses incurred in running the property are subtracted from property income, the resulting value is net operating income (NOI). Vacant real estate technically does not earn any operating revenue, though the owner of the property may be required to report fair market value adjustments that result in gains when externally reporting their finances.

What Does Revenue in Business Mean?

Revenue is the money earned by a company obtained primarily from the sale of its products or services to customers. There are specific accounting rules that dictate when, how, and why a company recognizes revenue. For instance, a company may receive cash from a client. However, a company may not be able to recognize revenue until they've performed their part of the contractual obligation.

Are Revenue and Cash Flow the Same Thing?

No. Revenue is the money a company earns from the sale of its products and services. Cash flow is the net amount of cash being transferred into and out of a company. Revenue provides a measure of the effectiveness of a company's sales and marketing, whereas cash flow is more of a  liquidity  indicator.  Both revenue and cash flow should be analyzed together for a comprehensive review of a company's financial health.

What Is the Difference Between Revenue and Income?

Revenue and income are sometimes used interchangeably. However, these two terms do usually mean different things. Revenue is often used to measure the total amount of sales a company from its goods and services. Income is often used to incorporate expenses and report the net proceeds a company has earned.

How Does One Generate and Calculate Revenue?

For many companies, revenues are generated from the sales of products or services. For this reason, revenue is sometimes known as gross sales . Revenue can also be earned via other sources. Inventors or entertainers may receive revenue from licensing, patents, or royalties. Real estate investors might earn revenue from rental income.

Revenue for federal and local governments would likely be in the form of tax receipts from property or income taxes. Governments might also earn revenue from the sale of an asset or interest income from a bond. Charities and non-profit organizations usually receive income from donations and grants. Universities could earn revenue from charging tuition but also from investment gains on their endowment fund.

What Is Accrued and Deferred Revenue?

Accrued revenue is the revenue earned by a company for the delivery of goods or services that have yet to be paid by the customer. In accrual accounting, revenue is reported at the time a sales transaction takes place and may not necessarily represent cash in hand.

Deferred, or unearned revenue can be thought of as the opposite of accrued revenue, in that unearned revenue accounts for money prepaid by a customer for goods or services that have yet to be delivered. If a company has received prepayment for its goods, it would recognize the revenue as unearned, but would not recognize the revenue on its income statement until the period for which the goods or services were delivered.

Microsoft. " Earnings Release FY22 Q3 ."

Financial Accounting Standards Board. " Revenue from Contracts with Customers ."

• Accounting Explained With Brief History and Modern Job Requirements 1 of 51
• What Is the Accounting Equation, and How Do You Calculate It? 2 of 51
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• Liability: Definition, Types, Example, and Assets vs. Liabilities 4 of 51
• Equity Definition: What it is, How It Works and How to Calculate It 5 of 51
• Revenue Definition, Formula, Calculation, and Examples 6 of 51
• Expense: Definition, Types, and How Expenses Are Recorded 7 of 51
• Current Assets vs. Noncurrent Assets: What's the Difference? 8 of 51
• What Is Accounting Theory in Financial Reporting? 9 of 51
• Accounting Principles Explained: How They Work, GAAP, IFRS 10 of 51
• Accounting Standard Definition: How It Works 11 of 51
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• What Are Accounting Policies and How Are They Used? With Examples 13 of 51
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• What Are Accounting Methods? Definition, Types, and Example 15 of 51
• What Is Accrual Accounting, and How Does It Work? 16 of 51
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• Accrual Accounting vs. Cash Basis Accounting: What's the Difference? 18 of 51
• Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB): Definition and How It Works 19 of 51
• GAAP: Understanding It and the 10 Key Principles 20 of 51
• What Are International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)? 21 of 51
• IFRS vs. GAAP: What's the Difference? 22 of 51
• How Does US Accounting Differ From International Accounting? 23 of 51
• Cash Flow Statement: What It Is and Examples 24 of 51
• Breaking Down The Balance Sheet 25 of 51
• Income Statement: How to Read and Use It 26 of 51
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• Financial Accounting Meaning, Principles, and Why It Matters 28 of 51
• How Does Financial Accounting Help Decision-Making? 29 of 51
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• How Financial Accounting Differs From Managerial Accounting 31 of 51
• Cost Accounting: Definition and Types With Examples 32 of 51
• Certified Public Accountant: What the CPA Credential Means 33 of 51
• What Is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and What Do They Do? 34 of 51
• Accountant vs. Financial Planner: What's the Difference? 35 of 51
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• Average Cost Method: Definition and Formula with Example 51 of 51

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The Basics of Small Business Revenue

Revenue is a vital part of your business. Your business needs revenue to survive. So, it’s important that you understand revenue.

Below you will learn what revenue is, why revenue is important, how to calculate it, and how to increase it.

What is revenue?

Revenue is the money your business receives during a certain accounting period.

Revenue is also called the top line because it is the first item listed on your small business income statement . You subtract business expenses from revenue to get your company’s bottom line .

You will determine your revenue differently depending on if you use accrual or cash accounting. In accrual accounting , you include sales made on credit as revenue, as long as you have given the goods or services to the customer. In the cash method of accounting , you only include sales as revenue if the customer has paid you.

The two types of revenue

There are two types of revenue : operating and nonoperating revenue.

Operating revenue is revenue your company earns from its main business activities. For example, sales to customers are operating revenue.

Nonoperating revenue is revenue your company earns from activities that aren’t directly related to your business. For example, you might earn nonoperating revenue from investing or renting your building to another business.

Why is revenue important?

Revenue is what keeps your business alive. Beyond being a lifeline, revenue can give you key insights into your business.

If you want to increase your business profits, you need to increase your revenue. By keeping an eye on your revenue and focusing on increasing it, you can also increase your profits.

By tracking your revenue across consistent accounting periods, you can compare it over time. For example, you can compare your business revenue between years or quarters.

You will also use your revenue for tax reporting. You will subtract your expenses from your revenue to determine your business’s taxable profits.

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Revenue formula

To calculate revenue, you need to know a few numbers.

First, calculate your operating revenue. Multiply the number of goods or services sold by the price you sold them for. For example, if you sell 300 pairs of shoes at $80, your operating revenue would be $24,000 (300 x $80). Do this for all the products or services you sold. Add together all your operating revenue.

Next, calculate your nonoperating revenue. Simply add together all your earnings from non-business activities.

Finally, add together your operating revenue and non-operating revenue.

Total revenue = operating revenue + nonoperating revenue

Ways to increase revenue

You can take steps to increase your business’s revenue.

You might increase the prices of your products or services. Assuming you maintain the same number of sales, your revenue will increase from the price increase. You do need to be careful though because some customers might take their money elsewhere when you increase your prices.

Try increasing the number of new, individual customers you have. You might need to increase your marketing or expand your target market.

You might try to increase the average amount customers spend per transaction. To do this, you have to convince customers to buy more. You need to offer incentives. You might have sales, bundle products, or give free samples when customers spend a certain amount.

Increasing customer frequency can also increase your revenue. When customers purchase more often, you will have a larger and more consistent influx of revenue. Special promotions and sales can encourage more frequent purchases.

You need a way to record your revenue and generate reports. Check out Patriot’s online accounting software . It’s made for small businesses, so you don’t need to be an accountant to use it. Get your free trial.

This article is updated from its original publication date of April 10, 2018.

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Make Lifecycle Revenue Marketing Part Of Your Annual Plan

John Arnold , Principal Analyst

Forty-six percent of B2B marketing decision-makers responsible for demand/ABM marketing say that standing up a new marketing approach is their biggest point of focus to support growth over the next 12 months. Enter lifecycle revenue marketing (LRM), the most comprehensive approach to frontline marketing. It’s also Forrester’s definition of best-in-class frontline B2B marketing. Here are a few tips for including LRM in your annual marketing plan and accelerating the LRM evolution at your company.

Forrester clients with access can use the report Chart Your Course To Lifecycle Revenue Marketing to map out an LRM transformation. The report includes key milestones and frameworks to guide and prioritize your initiatives. If you’re not a Forrester client, here are three tips for starting the conversation at your company and including LRM in this year’s planning process:

• Use your planning process to cast a new vision for frontline marketing. Start shifting your marketing focus from short-term gains toward long-term customer relationships, or better yet, focus on customer partnerships. A marketing plan that can tie frontline marketing efforts to customer obsession across the full lifecycle will help reposition frontline marketing’s role in creating sustainable revenue streams and increasing customer lifetime value.
• Include marketing collaboration touchpoints, in your planning. Emphasize ways that you can break through silos — especially those within your frontline marketing organization. Highlight in your plan the fact that more marketing alignment will also foster more collaboration and alignment between marketing, sales, product, and customer success teams.
• Plan to be early adopters of advancing technology. To successfully implement lifecycle revenue marketing, businesses need to make new technology investments. Plan to invest in generative AI, revenue marketing platforms, B2B analytics, and B2B audience and data provider platforms. These tools will enable you to drive more adaptive programs, resulting in more audience engagement and engagement insights across the lifecycle.

To further explore the potential of lifecycle revenue marketing and discuss how it can be integrated into your annual marketing plan, schedule a guidance session so we can provide you with valuable insights, tested strategies, and actionable recommendations specific to your business.

Related Links

• Marketing And Sales Can’t Align Without This
• How B2B Companies Will Win The Competition For Growth
• Welcome To The Data-Deprived Future Of Frontline B2B Marketing

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• Planning Guide 2024: Demand And ABM
• Make Frontline Marketing A Linchpin In Your B2B Customer-Obsessed Growth Engine
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More From Forbes

20 effective steps to navigate revenue decline.

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Market fluctuations are a part of any industry, and prudent leaders understand the critical need for proactive measures to weather income downturns. During a storm of financial uncertainty, certain strategies can be effective when facing a projected revenue decrease.

Whether it's the result of external economic factors, industry changes or unexpected crises, industry leaders should heed these strategies to combat decreasing revenue. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members share tips, tricks and strategies for any leader looking to not only shorten the duration of an income downturn, but also emerge stronger on the other side.

1. Avoid Making Short-Term Decisions

Cutting expenses is a critical step in managing your burn rate, but avoid making short-term focused decisions that could significantly hamper your revenue ramp-up in the future when things improve. It is important to get through the tough times, but it’s even more important to have a strong ability to ramp back up in the future! - Suraj Gupta , Rogue Insight Capital Ltd.

2. Have An Active Plan In Place

In preparation for tough times, we must minimize nonessential expenses, elongate payables, shorten receivables and proactively fortify relationships with clients, suppliers, banks, partners and so on. This plan requires preemptive measures and calls to have an honest dialogue with each and every party we value. The more active the plan, the greater the chance of weathering the storm. - Tej Brahmbhatt , Watchtower Capital

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

‘South Park: Joining The Panderverse’ Review — Disney Satire At Its Finest

Wwe smackdown results: winners and grades on october 27, 2023, shock leak reveals elon musk s mind blowing x plan to replace banks and paypal sparking wild critical mass bitcoin and crypto price speculation, 3. keep your team goal-focused.

Keep the team focused on the goals that were set as an organization. Downturns have a way of creating self-fulfilling prophecies of doom and gloom. Keep the team feeling good about doing all they can to reach their goals. Accentuate the positive and celebrate the success the teams achieve. We had a saying in the military: "Idle hands create havoc and pain." Keep people focused and busy. - Joe Crandall , Greencastle Associates Consulting

4. Look To Your Network For Support

When projecting a downturn, the usual answer is to cut all unnecessary costs. While that is important, it would be the last thing I do in the process. First, I would take all possible steps to extend your working capital cycle. Lean on all your partners to give you the longest runway. This should give you the ability to cut expenses that don't add value and help you be prepared when the market turns. - Eran Mizrahi , ingredient brothers

5. Prioritize Customer Retention And Satisfaction

One effective step for leaders during a forecasted revenue decrease is to prioritize customer retention and satisfaction. By focusing on existing customers and ensuring their needs are met, leaders can minimize churn and maintain a stable revenue base. This may involve providing exceptional customer service, personalized offerings and loyalty incentives. - Adam Ramsey , Suboxonet

6. Review Current Expenses

During income downturns, experienced business leaders must rigorously review and trim expenses and identify cost-cutting opportunities like outsourcing and automation. Renegotiate supplier or partner contracts for better terms to navigate revenue declines while maintaining service quality. - Pavel Stepanov , Virtudesk

7. Conduct A Stress Test

When facing a predicted revenue drop, a financial stress test is crucial. This identifies weak spots and optimization areas, helping leaders make data-driven decisions to trim costs and focus on critical KPIs. The aim is to lessen the downturn's impact and position the business for a quicker recovery, enabling agile responses to changing financial conditions. - Anuraag Sunder , Aon

8. Identify Ways To Reduce Costs

One effective step leaders can take to survive an income downturn is to identify cost-reduction opportunities and adjust accordingly. Reducing costs without sacrificing quality could include renegotiating contracts, consolidating suppliers or implementing energy-saving measures. Staying agile and being ready to take action when needed is vital when weathering an income downturn in your company. - Matthew Davis , GDI Insurance Agency, Inc.

9. Tighten Operational Efficiencies

In the face of dwindling revenues, it's vital to foster resilience by tightening operational efficiencies. A pivotal move is to streamline processes to eliminate waste and focus on core competencies. By doing this, companies can maintain quality while reducing costs, essentially "doing more with less" and steering the ship steadily through rough waters. - Sevana Petrosian , SEV

10. Be Quick And Decisive

I think the most important thing to do is make decisions quickly. Whether it's cutting costs through partnerships, subscriptions or teams, it all takes time to do it. The faster you move, the better it is for everyone involved and the survival of the company. In tough times, quick, confident and decisive action is essential to enabling everyone to focus on the challenge ahead. - Arthur Bretschneider , Seniorly, Inc.

11. Implement A Cost-Management Strategy

One effective step leaders can take to survive an income downturn is to carefully analyze and adjust their operational expenses. Identify areas where cost reductions can be made without compromising essential functions. Implementing this cost management strategy aims to reduce the impact of revenue decline and avoid employee pay cuts and morale issues. - Neha Naik , RecruitGyan

12. Enhance The Value Of Your Offering

Focus on enhancing the perceived value of your products or services. This might involve incorporating additional features, offering complimentary services or improving the customer service experience to encourage sustained patronage despite economic hardship. - Ran Ronen , Equally AI

13. Create Multiple Forecasts And Plans

Create multiple forecasts and develop contingency plans for each of the scenarios you've forecasted. Then develop action plans for each contingency plan. These can include cost-cutting measures, reevaluation of capital expenditures, cash flow management, etc. - Stephen Nalley , Black Briar Advisors

14. Have A Retaliation Approach

Instead of taking a defensive approach, choose to retaliate. Try finding new revenue streams, look for opportunities to pivot your business model or diversify your product or service offerings to cater to changing market demand. - Raj Maddula , Global Squirrels

15. Thoroughly Review Expenses

When facing a decrease, survival for many businesses will depend on the expenses. A great exercise, to be done periodically regardless of the forecast, is to do a thorough review of the expenses and look for products and services no longer needed or used but still being paid for. Additionally, look for areas where cuts or more efficient solutions can be implemented without affecting employees or customers. - Jason Foodman , Leaf.page

16. Prioritize Cash Flow Management

When anticipating a revenue drop, leaders should prioritize cash flow management. This involves analyzing fixed and variable costs, identifying areas for cost reduction and reallocating resources to high-return activities. Concurrently, ramp up client engagement to understand their needs and adjust offerings accordingly. Proactive measures and adaptive strategies can mitigate the downturn's impact. - Andrei Neacsu , HyperSense Software Inc .

17. Utilize Low-Cost Media

Leveraging low-cost brand positioning through media articles, networking, podcasts and other inbound-driven revenue-generating abilities is wise to consider. Relationships matter and the intangible wealth from strong vendor relationships has a tangible impact during these times when negotiated terms for extension or discounted prepay lengthen operational efficiency. - Paul L. Gunn, Jr. , KUOG Corporation

18. Provide Less Expensive Offerings

One effective step leaders can take when anticipating a decrease in revenue is to pivot their focus toward providing services or products that require fewer initial expenses for the company. By shifting the business model toward offerings with lower overhead costs, such as digital products, subscription services or online consulting, leaders can adapt to the changing financial landscape more efficiently. - Mark Snell , Polestar Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

19. Be Proactive

Leaders should always try to run lean operations. This means always having enough cash, keeping costs minimal and prioritizing operational efficiency. So, if a leader running a lean operation faces a decrease in revenue, they will be able to survive without making any fundamental changes to their business. - Abdulmuhsen Fakih , Systemize It

20. Diversify Income Sources

Diversify income sources by exploring new markets, products or services to offset the revenue decline. Adapt quickly to changing circumstances and leverage existing assets to find alternative income streams, ensuring financial stability during downturns. - Trey Ferro , Spot Pet Insurance

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Elon Musk Barfs Out Another Half-Cooked Plan to Boost Tanking Revenue

Posted: October 28, 2023 | Last updated: October 28, 2023

Business super-genius Elon Musk rolled out yet another can’t-miss plan to save his foundering social media platform on Friday.

Twitter, now known as X, features two more subscription tiers in addition to X Premium, which costs $8 a month.

Oh, and he’s reportedly incentivizing Tucker Carlson to create more content on the platform.

The platform now offers a $16 subscription called Premium+ that gets users an ad-free experience, increased visibility, the ability to post longer videos, and a personal video recording of Musk laughing at them for 69 consecutive seconds. (I made one of those up.) Additionally, Twitter will offer a $3 subscription option for those who sign up through a browser.

CEO Linda Yaccarino , who is basically Dmitry Medvedev to Musk’s Vladimir Putin during that time when Putin couldn’t be president for four years, was brought in to assuage advertisers who had fled the platform. One of Musk’s, er, “her” solutions to this problem was to cut a revenue-sharing deal with Carlson, according to the Washington Post :

When Musk hired a new CEO, one of her first moves was to court former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to launch his new program on X, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive talks. Carlson and X signed a revenue-sharing deal earlier this month, The Post has learned.

As WaPo reporter as reporter Sarah Ellison speculated, this could mean “lots more Tucker content” on the platform.

That’s right. Carlson, whose former Fox News show was so toxic that only the My Pillow guy and a handful of companies you’ve never heard of would advertise on Fox News while it aired, is allegedly part of the grand plan to bring advertisers back to the Musk Midlife Crisis Corporation.

The revelation comes on the heels of an utterly disastrous appearance by Yaccarino at last month’s Code Conference. The supposedly media-savvy executive came off as impatient, irascible, and condescending. At one point, she stepped in proverbial dog doo-doo by asking the audience, “Who wouldn’t want Elon Musk sitting by their side running product?”

When some in the crowd inevitably raised their hands, Yaccarino became indignant .

“There may be a few show of hands to get the cute chuckles you’re getting,” she told interviewer Julia Boorstin. “But I would say the percentages in this room are about 99%, ‘who would say no to that?’ And 1% of, maybe personal opinion .”

Meanwhile, the platform is flooded with bogus information, misleading videos, and White supremacist rhetoric from accounts with blue checkmarks. One of Musk’s first major moves was to strip the blue checkmark from every account in favor of the $8 Premium plan. Predictably, numerous imposter accounts popped up purporting to be famous people or companies . In response, Musk restored the blue checkmarks to the really famous people and companies at no cost, but he continued insisting the plebes pay up.

Unsurprisingly, it turns out that doling out scores of “verified” badges to accounts with handles like @HotRod69_420 damages the credibility of the site. The old system wasn’t perfect by any means, but it made it a hell of a lot easier to find information from trusted sources. That’s gone now. For example, when news breaks, users must scroll and sift through a torrent of sludge from blue checkmarks like the aforementioned HotRod making definitive claims about important developments or posting videos purporting to be authentic or relevant to the news event.

Shortly after Musk acquired Twitter last year, I wrote a one-word column explaining what he’s doing “right” at the company (nothing). And I knew he would continue doing nothing right. But as a longtime critic of Musk, not even I thought he would sabotage it this badly and in such a short period of time.

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