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How to Write a Financial Analysis

Know what to include in important section of business plan

Alyssa Gregory is an entrepreneur, writer, and marketer with 20 years of experience in the business world. She is the founder of the Small Business Bonfire, a community for entrepreneurs, and has authored more than 2,500 articles for The Balance and other popular small business websites.

business plan data analysis

Financial Analysis of a Business Plan

Assumptions, know the ground rules, use visuals, check your math.

The financial analysis section of a business plan should contain the data for financing your business for the present, what will be needed for future growth, and an estimation of your operating expenses.

The financial analysis section of your business plan may be the most challenging for you to complete on your own, but it also could be the deal-maker or deal-breaker when you are searching for funding.

Because of the structured, in-depth financial data required for this section, you should consult your accountant or other trusted and qualified financial professional before writing this section .

The financial analysis section should be based on estimates for new businesses or recent data for established businesses. It should include these elements:

  • Balance sheet : Your assumed and anticipated business financials, including assets , liabilities, and equity.
  • Cash-flow analysis : An overview of the cash you anticipate will be coming into your business based on sales forecasts, minus the anticipated cash expenses of running the business.
  • Profit-and-loss analysis : Your income statement that subtracts the costs of the business from the earnings over a specific period of time, typically a quarter or a year.
  • Break-even analysis : Demonstrates the point when the cost of doing business is fully covered by sales.
  • Personnel-expense forecast : The expenses of your team, as outlined in a management summary section .

Completing a financial analysis section for a business that hasn't been started yet requires some assumptions. However, these aren't guesses. What you expect from the business needs to be based on detailed research and data.

Go back to the other sections of your business plan and write down any financial assumptions you made while drafting those sections. You then can use those assumptions in your financial analysis section. The most important factor is ensuring that the data in the financial analysis section is consistent with the assumptions made in other sections of your business plan.

There may be no section of your business plan where you need help as much as you do with your financial analysis section. The assumptions, forecasting, and specific numbers can be complicated and generally difficult to wrap your head around, especially if you don’t have a financial background. This financial information, though, is exactly the data your audience will be looking for.

You can avoid the stress and uncertainty by getting help from a qualified financial professional early in the process.

When it comes to the financial analysis of your business plan, have a basic idea of what each element should include, where the data comes from, and what the numbers mean. This stands even if you have help developing the financial analysis section because you will be the one left to explain and expand on the financial data in face-to-face situations.

GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles ), a collection of rules, procedures, and conventions that define accepted accounting practices should be followed throughout this section.

Use graphs and charts in the financial analysis section to illustrate the financial data , just as you should in other sections of your business plan that include extensive data, numbers, statistics, and trends. Put the most important visuals in the financial analysis, with the supporting graphics included in the Appendix.

A quick way to lose the attention of a potential investor is by having flawed calculations or numbers that are not backed up. Double and triple check all of your calculations and figures, and have a third-party do the same to ensure everything adds up.

You also should avoid including any figures that are not explained, backed up and otherwise researched extensively, especially when it comes to assumptions you've made. Use data from current and past markets and financial situations to substantiate your numbers.

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Use Data to Accelerate Your Business Strategy

  • John Ladley
  • Thomas C. Redman

business plan data analysis

There’s no shortage of great opportunities.

Data is not yet strategic for many organizations. While many success stories confirm data can add enormous value, most organizations still struggle to build data into their business strategies and, conversely, to align their data efforts to the needs of the business.

But when integrated properly, data can accelerate many business strategies by improving the processes and empowering the people needed to execute them. This starts by having the right conversations — by seeing through all the complexities, finding common ground, and establishing priorities on which everyone can agree. To do this, leaders and data experts should focus on looking at data and strategy through the lens of six “value modes,” or ways that companies can derive value from data. These value modes include improved processes; improved competitive position; new and improved products, stemming from better customer and market data; informationalization, or building data into products and services; improved human capabilities; and improved risk management.

Thirty-five years after Robert Waterman’s observation in In Search of Excellence that companies were “data rich and information poor,” little has changed. For sure companies are “data richer,” having exponentially more data at their disposal. But they are still information poor, even as leaders have implemented a wide array of programs aimed at exploiting data. Most still struggle to build data into their business strategies and, conversely, to align their data efforts to the needs of the business. There are a host of reasons, from lack of talent to unreasonable expectations to culture. Solving these problems is essential for those that wish to unleash the power of data across their organizations.

business plan data analysis

  • John Ladley is an experienced practitioner who helps organizations define and transition to new business and data capabilities. His work and books enable alignment of business and data strategy, organizational change, and practical application of data technology to business problems.
  • Thomas C. Redman , “the Data Doc,” is President of Data Quality Solutions . He helps companies and people  chart their courses to data-driven futures with special emphasis on quality, analytics, and organizational capabilities. His latest book, People and Data: Uniting to Transform Your Organization (Kogan Page) was published Summer 2023.

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4 Examples of Business Analytics in Action

Business Analytics Meeting

  • 15 Jan 2019

Data is a valuable resource in today’s ever-changing marketplace. For business professionals, knowing how to interpret and communicate data is an indispensable skill that can inform sound decision-making.

“The ability to bring data-driven insights into decision-making is extremely powerful—all the more so given all the companies that can’t hire enough people who have these capabilities,” says Harvard Business School Professor Jan Hammond , who teaches the online course Business Analytics . “It’s the way the world is going.”

Before taking a look at how some companies are harnessing the power of data, it’s important to have a baseline understanding of what the term “business analytics” means.

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What Is Business Analytics?

Business analytics is the use of math and statistics to collect, analyze, and interpret data to make better business decisions.

There are four key types of business analytics: descriptive, predictive, diagnostic, and prescriptive. Descriptive analytics is the interpretation of historical data to identify trends and patterns, while predictive analytics centers on taking that information and using it to forecast future outcomes. Diagnostic analytics can be used to identify the root cause of a problem. In the case of prescriptive analytics , testing and other techniques are employed to determine which outcome will yield the best result in a given scenario.

Related : 4 Types of Data Analytics to Improve Decision-Making

Across industries, these data-driven approaches have been employed by professionals to make informed business decisions and attain organizational success.

Check out the video below to learn more about business analytics, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more explainer content!

Business Analytics vs. Data Science

It’s important to highlight the difference between business analytics and data science . While both processes use big data to solve business problems they’re separate fields.

The main goal of business analytics is to extract meaningful insights from data to guide organizational decisions, while data science is focused on turning raw data into meaningful conclusions through using algorithms and statistical models. Business analysts participate in tasks such as budgeting, forecasting, and product development, while data scientists focus on data wrangling , programming, and statistical modeling.

While they consist of different functions and processes, business analytics and data science are both vital to today’s organizations. Here are four examples of how organizations are using business analytics to their benefit.

Business Analytics | Become a data-driven leader | Learn More

Business Analytics Examples

According to a recent survey by McKinsey , an increasing share of organizations report using analytics to generate growth. Here’s a look at how four companies are aligning with that trend and applying data insights to their decision-making processes.

1. Improving Productivity and Collaboration at Microsoft

At technology giant Microsoft , collaboration is key to a productive, innovative work environment. Following a 2015 move of its engineering group's offices, the company sought to understand how fostering face-to-face interactions among staff could boost employee performance and save money.

Microsoft’s Workplace Analytics team hypothesized that moving the 1,200-person group from five buildings to four could improve collaboration by increasing the number of employees per building and reducing the distance that staff needed to travel for meetings. This assumption was partially based on an earlier study by Microsoft , which found that people are more likely to collaborate when they’re more closely located to one another.

In an article for the Harvard Business Review , the company’s analytics team shared the outcomes they observed as a result of the relocation. Through looking at metadata attached to employee calendars, the team found that the move resulted in a 46 percent decrease in meeting travel time. This translated into a combined 100 hours saved per week across all relocated staff members and an estimated savings of $520,000 per year in employee time.

The results also showed that teams were meeting more often due to being in closer proximity, with the average number of weekly meetings per person increasing from 14 to 18. In addition, the average duration of meetings slightly declined, from 0.85 hours to 0.77 hours. These findings signaled that the relocation both improved collaboration among employees and increased operational efficiency.

For Microsoft, the insights gleaned from this analysis underscored the importance of in-person interactions and helped the company understand how thoughtful planning of employee workspaces could lead to significant time and cost savings.

2. Enhancing Customer Support at Uber

Ensuring a quality user experience is a top priority for ride-hailing company Uber. To streamline its customer service capabilities, the company developed a Customer Obsession Ticket Assistant (COTA) in early 2018—a tool that uses machine learning and natural language processing to help agents improve their speed and accuracy when responding to support tickets.

COTA’s implementation delivered positive results. The tool reduced ticket resolution time by 10 percent, and its success prompted the Uber Engineering team to explore how it could be improved.

For the second iteration of the product, COTA v2, the team focused on integrating a deep learning architecture that could scale as the company grew. Before rolling out the update, Uber turned to A/B testing —a method of comparing the outcomes of two different choices (in this case, COTA v1 and COTA v2)—to validate the upgraded tool’s performance.

Preceding the A/B test was an A/A test, during which both a control group and a treatment group used the first version of COTA for one week. The treatment group was then given access to COTA v2 to kick off the A/B testing phase, which lasted for one month.

At the conclusion of testing, it was found that there was a nearly seven percent relative reduction in average handle time per ticket for the treatment group during the A/B phase, indicating that the use of COTA v2 led to faster service and more accurate resolution recommendations. The results also showed that customer satisfaction scores slightly improved as a result of using COTA v2.

With the use of A/B testing, Uber determined that implementing COTA v2 would not only improve customer service, but save millions of dollars by streamlining its ticket resolution process.

Related : How to Analyze a Dataset: 6 Steps

3. Forecasting Orders and Recipes at Blue Apron

For meal kit delivery service Blue Apron, understanding customer behavior and preferences is vitally important to its success. Each week, the company presents subscribers with a fixed menu of meals available for purchase and employs predictive analytics to forecast demand , with the aim of using data to avoid product spoilage and fulfill orders.

To arrive at these predictions, Blue Apron uses algorithms that take several variables into account, which typically fall into three categories: customer-related features, recipe-related features, and seasonality features. Customer-related features describe historical data that depicts a given user’s order frequency, while recipe-related features focus on a subscriber’s past recipe preferences, allowing the company to infer which upcoming meals they’re likely to order. In the case of seasonality features, purchasing patterns are examined to determine when order rates may be higher or lower, depending on the time of year.

Through regression analysis—a statistical method used to examine the relationship between variables—Blue Apron’s engineering team has successfully measured the precision of its forecasting models. The team reports that, overall, the root-mean-square error—the difference between predicted and observed values—of their projection of future orders is consistently less than six percent, indicating a high level of forecasting accuracy.

By employing predictive analytics to better understand customers, Blue Apron has improved its user experience, identified how subscriber tastes change over time, and recognized how shifting preferences are impacted by recipe offerings.

Related : 5 Business Analytics Skills for Professionals

4. Targeting Consumers at PepsiCo

Consumers are crucial to the success of multinational food and beverage company PepsiCo. The company supplies retailers in more than 200 countries worldwide , serving a billion customers every day. To ensure the right quantities and types of products are available to consumers in certain locations, PepsiCo uses big data and predictive analytics.

PepsiCo created a cloud-based data and analytics platform called Pep Worx to make more informed decisions regarding product merchandising. With Pep Worx, the company identifies shoppers in the United States who are likely to be highly interested in a specific PepsiCo brand or product.

For example, Pep Worx enabled PepsiCo to distinguish 24 million households from its dataset of 110 million US households that would be most likely to be interested in Quaker Overnight Oats. The company then identified specific retailers that these households might shop at and targeted their unique audiences. Ultimately, these customers drove 80 percent of the product’s sales growth in its first 12 months after launch.

PepsiCo’s analysis of consumer data is a prime example of how data-driven decision-making can help today’s organizations maximize profits.

Which HBS Online Business Essentials Course is Right for You? | Download Your Free Flowchart

Developing a Data Mindset

As these companies illustrate, analytics can be a powerful tool for organizations seeking to grow and improve their services and operations. At the individual level, a deep understanding of data can not only lead to better decision-making, but career advancement and recognition in the workplace.

“Using data analytics is a very effective way to have influence in an organization,” Hammond says . “If you’re able to go into a meeting, and other people have opinions, but you have data to support your arguments and your recommendations, you’re going to be influential.”

Do you want to leverage the power of data within your organization? Explore Business Analytics —one of our online business essentials courses —to learn how to use data analysis to solve business problems.

This post was updated on March 24, 2023. It was originally published on January 15, 2019.

business plan data analysis

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How to Create a Business Plan to Win Over Investors (7+ Business Plan Templates)

By Midori Nediger , Jul 11, 2023

Business Plan Blog Header

A compelling business plan is essential to every new and growing business.

It’s the primary document that prospective investors use to evaluate the potential of a business, going hand in hand with a business pitch deck .

For a business plan, you need to organize a lot of information into a single, easy-to-read document. More than that, your business plan’s design should be engaging, inspire confidence in your stakeholders and motivate them to back your company and its vision. 

Gone are the days when designing a business plan from scratch was a time-consuming and challenging task. Today, business plan templates offer a convenient solution by providing pre-designed layouts that simplify the process.

In this blog, I’m going to break it down for you. I’ll share the six things you need to know to put together a compelling, engaging business plan. Ready to get started now? Venngage’s online Business Plan Maker  lets anyone create a winning business plan quickly and easily.

Just so you know, some of our business plan templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee.  Sign-up  is always free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

Click to jump ahead:

  • How to format your business plan

Startup business plan templates

Simple business plan templates.

  • How to write your business plan
  • How to design an engaging executive summary
  • How to use charts and graphs to present data
  • How to communicate growth strategies in your business plan
  • How to present financial data in your business plan

1. How to format your business plan

To format your business plan:

  • Start with a clear title page.
  • Include an executive summary.
  • Provide a company description.
  • Conduct a market analysis.
  • Describe your product or service offering.
  • Outline your marketing and sales strategy.
  • Include organizational or business structure and management information.

A typical business plan is an in-depth document and covers every facet of your business (present and future). Creating a traditional business plan makes sense when you have a clear growth plan for the next three to five years, are in need of major funding, or want to attract long-term partners.  

A professional business plan typically has the following sections: 

  • Table of Contents
  • Executive summary
  • Company description
  • Market analysis
  • Organization and management
  • Service or product line
  • Marketing and sales
  • Funding request
  • Financial projections
  • An appendix

A business plan can span a dozen or more pages because it presents the big picture, as complete as possible, to reassure others to invest in you. Investment can mean a few different things – usually financial, but also as partners or employees. 

The sections that can take a lot of research and add to the bulk of your business plan are your market analysis, marketing and sales plans, and financial projections. 

These are the sections that demonstrate your business acumen, your long-term vision, and your accountability. Whereas, sections like the executive summary are meant to grab attention, inspire and get people excited about your business. 

Start with a business plan template

To get started on your business plan, save yourself some time and use a template.

Most business plan templates will include things like a cover page, table of contents and the main sections you need. It will also have pre-formatted pages with placeholder text and charts that you can swap out. 

Green Simple Business Plan Template

It takes time to do market research, present growth plans, put together financial projections, analyze your customer base, create competitor breakdowns…the list goes on.

The last thing you want to do is spend precious time formatting the resulting document. 

Save time by building your business plan from an existing business plan template, and customize it with your own content.

With a clean, consistent structure and clear headings, this template is the perfect starting point:

business plan template

Then you’re free to customize the template with helpful visual elements like charts, tables, and diagrams, that will make your pitch deck impossible to resist.

A Venngage business plan template is designed to help you communicate visually  and explain complex ideas easily. The right business plan template for you depends on the length and detail of your business plan, your brand and style, and the different sections you want to cover.

If your small business doesn’t have a dedicated design team, but you still need to learn how to write a business plan to present to investors–build off of a pre-designed business plan template:

Simple Business Plan TemplateSimple Business Plan Template

There are just a handful of our business plan templates that can be customized in the Venngage editor. Browse more business plan templates,  choose one that’s best for you and start editing right away.

Structuring your startup business plan involves organizing it into sections such as executive summary, company description, market analysis, product/service offering, marketing and sales strategy, financial projections, and operational plan.

Here are some business plan template examples:

startup business plan template

Short Business Plan Template

short business plan template

Number your pages and include a table of contents

A table of contents is crucial to help readers navigate your document and quickly find specific sections that are of interest to them.

It’s a good idea to include page numbers, main section headings, and section subheadings here for easy reference.

business plan template

Keeping these tips in mind will ensure that your business plan design feels clean and professional and doesn’t distract from your content. You want your information, not your formatting, to be the focus!

2. How to write your business plan 

Crafting a solid business plan is vital for the success of your venture. It serves as a roadmap that outlines your objectives, strategies, and financial projections. Here are three tips for writing your business plan to ensure it’s easy to read, appears professional and is memorable.

Use bulleted lists, bold text, and a clear type hierarchy for ‘skimmability’

Business plans need to be understandable at a glance to attract funding . Investors are looking for information that will help them understand your business quickly and without much effort.

Take a look at this snippet of the business plan template from above:

business plan

What stands out to you?

To me, the large green headers pop out first, making it easy to scan through the sections to find what I want to focus on.

This is because there’s a defined type hierarchy, giving more visual weight to the headers over the body text.

business plan

Next, the unique selling points of this business–superior quality products, unique glass carving and brass inlays, and excellent service–jump out. Because they’re presented in an indented list , they’re easier to see at a glance, which will likely make them more memorable.

Finally, I’m drawn to the bolded stats–“top 30% of the industry” and “4 out of 5 households spent money on renovation”.

Key statistics like these can go a long way towards convincing your investors that you’re worth their time and money. If you’re going to include them within larger paragraphs, make sure they stand out by increasing their font weight.

To sum up: make your report skimmable. Draw attention to important takeaways with indented lists, bolded text, and a clear type hierarchy.

Consider using a one-column or two-column grid

business plan

If your business plan contains only text, stick with a single-column layout that reinforces the linear flow of the document. If your business plan includes some supporting data in the form of charts and tables, use a two-column layout to juxtapose text with its corresponding data.

Maintain page margins that set text at a readable line length

When we read long passages of text, the ease at which we read depends on how the text flows on the page. Something called line length (the number of characters in a horizontal line of text) plays a huge role in readability, and is something you should consider when formatting your business plan.

To dictate line length, designers and typesetters play with the width of page margins (the edges of a document that don’t contain any text or images) with the aim of maximizing readability.

It’s generally accepted that the ideal line length sits somewhere between 40 and 90 characters per line. Any longer or shorter and you’ll find that something feels “off” about your document.

business plan

How do you achieve this in your business plan?

If you use a single-column layout, use nice wide margins (1 ½ to 2 inches) to limit your text to less than 90 characters per line.

business plan template

With a two-column layout, you might need to use narrower margins (possibly as little as ½ an inch on either side) to make sure there’s enough space for at least 40 characters per line of text.

business plan template

The last thing to remember about margins and line length–don’t play around with them from page to page. Use consistent margins across your whole document.

3. How to design an executive summary

An executive summary is a snapshot of your business plan. It should be concise and hook your readers. It should reassure stakeholders that your business plan will be a worthwhile read.

How you choose to structure your executive summary is key. You can deliver a lot of excellent information that simply gets lost in a sea of text and paragraphs. Even if someone reads through it entirely, they may have missed something.

To make key information stand out, use vibrant headings, incorporate visuals throughout, and break up the layout of your text.

Executive Summary Business Plan Template

Not every investor looks for the same thing. Some will care more about who you or your executive team are, while another is interested solely in the financials of the business. Identifying each section makes it easy for readers to find exactly what they’re looking for.

You can also list out the key takeaways, briefly explaining them in the executive summary. If your reader finds everything they needed to know in the executive summary, they’ll happily move onto the rest of the business plan.

Executive Summary Blue Business Plan Template

4. Use one feature color to tie your business plan together

Color should be used with restraint in professional documents like business plans. Instead of adding color solely for aesthetic purposes, think of color selection as another tool to highlight information you want your reader to focus on and to tie the document together.

You shouldn’t need more than a single color (ideally one of your brand colors ) to achieve this in a business plan.

In business plan charts, color should be used only to clarify trends and relationships. Use color to emphasize single important data points, differentiate between real and projected values, or group related data:

business plan template

In the rest of your business plan, keep color to a minimum. At most, use it to make headers stand out or to highlight key points in long-form text, diagrams, or tables.

The nice thing about keeping document colors this simple? It’s hard to mess up, and without any complex design work, it creates a sense of cohesion and unity within a document.

4. How to use charts and graphs to present your data

Since your business plan should be backed by solid data, you might want to include some of that data as evidence, in the form of  charts, tables or diagrams . Even simple visuals can communicate better than long paragraphs of text.

I’ll touch on some specific types of charts commonly used in business plans next, but first let’s review a few general chart design tactics.

Use descriptive titles and annotations to spell out chart takeaways

Avoid generic headers whenever possible. Maximize your chart’s value and impact by providing takeaway messages right in the title.

business plan

In the same vein, add direct annotations to data points or trends that support your case.

business plan

Repeating key messages within a chart, in the title, annotations, and captions, may improve viewers understanding and recall of those messages .

Aid understanding of market size and market share with area charts and pie charts

A market potential analysis is a fundamental pillar of your business plan. Market size and market share are two major components of a market potential analysis.

These numbers are typically in the millions and billions (the bigger the better, really), but most people have trouble grasping the meaning of such big numbers . At a surface level we can understand that one billion is one thousand times larger than one million, but we often struggle to comprehend what that really means.

This is the perfect opportunity to add some visual aids to your business plan.

Use bubble charts to represent market size

Bubble charts are useful for showing general proportions among numbers. Check out this one from our redesigned version of AirBnb’s first pitch deck :

business plan

Without having to think about the absolute values of these very large numbers, we can quickly see how they relate to one another.

While bubble charts are good for making quick, general comparisons, they’re less useful when it comes to precise measurements. To help readers make slightly more accurate judgements of proportion:

Use pie or donut charts to represent market share and market composition

Pie and donut charts are the industry standard for showing market share and market composition, since they’re the most widely understood method for representing part-to-whole relationships.

The way Uber breaks down their market with a simple donut chart makes their biggest segment (a key takeaway) really stand out, while the subtler differences between the smaller segments are still evident.

business plan

When you present a market analysis, use pie charts, donut charts, or bubble charts to aid the reader understanding proportions and part-to-whole relationships.

Use histograms and bar charts to represent demographic distributions in market segmentation summaries

Another part of analyzing market potential is about identifying and understanding target customers. This means segmenting customers by geography, interests, demographics…really anything that might affect purchasing behaviour.

Two standard metrics that most businesses include in a market segmentation summary are customer age and gender. These data are easily summarized in a histogram, with bars that represent age group distribution.

business plan template

Bar charts can then be used to contrast the key behaviors and lifestyle choices of the top consumer segments.

business plan template

Histograms and bar charts are standard features of a market segmentation summary. Use them together to identify and present information about top customer segments.

Outline major milestones with a Gantt chart

Stakeholders will want to see that you have a concrete plan in place to help you reach your revenue goals. When formulating your goals, use the SMART principle to provide your stakeholders with a very clear vision of how you intend to achieve them. 

Use a Gantt chart (a sort of modified bar chart) to outline the major milestones and phases of your business strategy. Try to include a multi-year plan, broken down by quarter and by project or department.

business plan

You can create your own Gantt chart with Venngage.

5. How to communicate growth strategies in your business plan

No matter how impressive your product line or services, your business won’t just magically grow. You concrete marketing and sales plans in place, and effectively communicate strategies to your stakeholders.

Start by acknowledging your target market – who are you going after? This is what your marketing and sales efforts will revolve around after all.

Demonstrate an understanding of the competitor landscape. You will always have direct or indirect competition, and showing how your planning accounts for it is key. Then you can talk about actual plans and strategies you wish to implement.

Present your target audience with persona guides

A product may great on its own. But its value is determined when there is a clear and obvious market for it. You can point out shortcomings of your competition, but you also need to show that your target audience exists and how you’re serving them.

A persona guide provides a great deal of context to readers of your business plan. It’s the best way for them to understand who cares about your product or service, how it aligns with their lifestyle and needs, and why your marketing and sales tactics will work.

Business Plan Persona Guide Template

A persona guide needs to be detailed, and share an intimate understanding of your target audience. The more you can divulge, the more reassuring your research and overall business plan will be.

Business Plan Detailed Persona Guide Template

Even if you don’t have a substantial customer base, you can still create an ideal persona guide to show who you’re pursuing.

Business Plan Ideal Persona Guide Template

Highlight competitors and differentiate yourself with a SWOT analysis

Every business plan should include an analysis of the competitive landscape–an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of competitive businesses.

In terms of visuals, this competitive analysis is typically summarized in a SWOT analysis matrix .

Business Plan SWOT Analysis Template

You can also present the SWOT analysis as a table or a list. The layout is up to you, but you want to focus on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in relation to your competition.

Business Plan SWOT analysis Table Template

While the SWOT analysis framework provides valuable insights, it’s not the entire reflection of your competitive landscape. For example, it doesn’t make it easy to see at a glance the qualities that differentiate your business from your competitors.

To highlight those offerings that set you apart from your competitors, a comparison matrix is more effective. Take a look at these two templates:

Business Plan Competitor Comparison Template

With a direct competitor comparison, it’s easy to present the key differentiators between the existing options for a product or service, and your business.

Alternatively, a “ Magic Quadrant ” can be useful when you’re focused on comparing across two main metrics ( key differentiators ):

business plan

Finally, in a competitive market, there are going to be a lot of players who compete directly or indirectly with you.  A breakdown of them all may not be necessary. Instead, you can point visually to the space that you will address, that has been so far ignored up to now.

To do that, a prioritization chart can be used. By plotting competing businesses on a prioritization chart, you highlight experiences existing competitors focus on, and where your business falls. 

business plan

Use roadmaps to present your marketing and sales plans

To explain any long-term marketing or sales plan, you want visuals. It’s easier to break down strategies you’ll be deploying every month or each quarter, when you can actually show what you’re talking about.

Keep in mind, those reading your business plan may not be marketers or sales executives. Being able to lay out your approach in a way that’s organized, shows how much thought you’ve given to your growth strategies.

You can design a simple roadmap that points to what you’ll be doing throughout the year. The more detailed you can get, the better.

Business Plan Marketing roadmap Template

You can also present your product roadmap , with your marketing roadmap how the business will be growing overall.

Business Plan Product Roadmap Template

You don’t need to use a traditional roadmap layout, either. Experiment with different formats as you may find one easier to work with than another. As long as the time period for different strategies is clear, your roadmap will be easy to understand.

Business Plan Marketing Roadmap Template

6. How to present financial data in your business plan

Presenting financial data isn’t easy. You have to crunch a lot of numbers before you can share projections with confidence. You’ll also need to explain how you arrived at the numbers and prepare for your answers.

Understanding how to organize your information is key to walking potential investors and other stakeholders through your projections.

Use organizational flow charts and summary tables for budget breakdowns and financial summaries

The financials section of your business plan will get a lot of attention from stakeholders. Simple bar charts and pie charts won’t suffice, as they can’t present financial data in very much detail.

If your business has already been operating for some time, stakeholders will expect a detailed report of revenues and expenses. Tables are usually the best choice for this kind of financial summary, as they provide an unbiased view of the numbers and allow stakeholders to look up specific values.

business plan templates

If you’re interested in highlighting a particular trend, however, you may want to include a line chart featuring a smaller snapshot of your financial data:

business plan templates

If you’re just starting your business and you don’t have any detailed revenue data, you can still provide useful information about your budget. Outline higher-level budget allocation with an organizational flow chart .

business plan

Use line or bar graphs to visualize financial trends

You can use different types of graphs to also show how your business has performed thus far. 

You can share results over the course of a year with a line graph. This is effective to show an overall set of trends and growth rates. 

Business Plan Sales Chart Template

You can also compare previous years to highlight how your business has grown.

Your audience should be able to draw conclusions from your data within seconds. If there is simply too much information, or it’s hard to find important information, they will lose interest. 

Business Plan Revenue Projection Template

Looking for a business plan software to help save time and reduce errors? Pick from one of these 7 best business plan software to get started.

A quick summary 

A business plan is the one key document that every young business needs to present their vision to potential investors and other stakeholders.

The quality of a business plan can make or break a young business Here’s a quick recap of what we covered for you to keep in mind:

  • Get started with a template
  • Use a table of contents and numbered pages
  • Use lists, bold headings and aim for skimmability
  • Consider using a one-column or two-column
  • Maintain page margins
  • Use headings to identify the most important information
  • Use one thematic color palette for your design
  • Use descriptive titles and annotations
  • Use area and pie charts to explain market size and market share
  • Use pie/donut charts to visualize marketing share and market composition
  • Use bar charts and histograms to capture demographics data
  • Highlight major milestones with a gantt chart
  • Identify your target audience using persona guides
  • Differentiate yourself with a SWOT analysis/competitor chart
  • Use roadmaps to visualize your marketing and sales plans
  • Use flow charts and summary tables for financial breakdowns
  • Use line or bar graphs for financial trends and projection

You can always reference this post as you work on your business plan. I’ve also included additional blog posts you can reference for specific areas of your business plan.

More Resources for business planning and growth:

Growth Strategy Checklist: Plan Your Business Goals With These 5 Templates

Growth Strategy Checklist Template Blog Post Header

What is a Marketing Plan and How to Make One?

marketing plan header

How to Communicate Strategy Effectively Using Visuals [Templates]

communicating strategy header

30+ Business Report Templates That Every Business Needs [+ Design Tips]

30+ Business Report Templates That Every Business Needs

How to Write a Business Plan in 2023 [Examples Included]

business plan data analysis

Table of contents

So you have come up with a business idea that will turn your company into a Forbes 500 enterprise? Sounds great!

However, you are going to need much more than an idea. You will need to do some comprehensive research, create operational standpoints, describe your product, define your goals, and pave out a road map for future growth.

In other words, you are going to need a business plan.

A business plan is a document that precisely explains how you are going to make your startup a success. Without it, your chances of attracting funding and investments significantly decrease.

Do you want to learn how to create a winning business plan that will take your company to the next level? We created a guide that will help you do just that.

Let’s dive in.

What Is a Business Plan?

Why and when do you need a business plan, types of business plans (what to include in each).

  • How Do You Write a Business Plan?

Best Practices for Writing a Winning Business Plan

Business plan examples.

  • Monitor the Performance of Your Business with Databox

marketing_overview_hubspot_ga_dashboard_databox

A business plan is a comprehensive document that defines how a business will achieve its goals. It is essentially a road map for growth that includes operational standpoints from all the key departments such as marketing, financial, HR, and others.

Startups use business plans to describe who they are, what they plan to do, and how they plan to achieve it. This is an extremely valuable document for attracting investors.

However, they are valuable for the company members as well. A good business plan keeps executive teams on the same page regarding the strategies they should implement to achieve their set objectives.

Related : Reporting to Investors: 6 Best Practices to Help Increase Funding

While business plans are especially useful for startups, each business should include them. In the best-case scenario, this plan will be updated from time to time and reviewed whether the goals of the company have been met.

The main things that investors want to check out in the business plan are:

  • Product-market fit – Have you researched the market demand for your products and services?
  • Team efficiency – Does your startup have devoted professionals that will work on achieving your goals?
  • Scalability – How probable is growth in sales volumes without proportional growth or fixed costs?

An organized business plan is essentially a blueprint of your goals and it showcases your abilities as an entrepreneur.

Related : Business Report: What is it & How to Write a Great One? (With Examples)

If you want to persuade venture capitalists and banking institutions to invest in your startup, you won’t be able to do it without a solid business plan.

A business plan is helpful in two ways – it allows you to focus on the specific goals you set for the future and it provides external parties with evidence that you have done your research in advance.

But don’t just take our word for it – here are some of the things that researchers from Bplans found out when they were analyzing the benefits of business plans with the University of Oregon.

  • Companies that use business plans have recorded a 30% faster growth compared to those that didn’t use them.
  • Getting investments and loans is twice as likely to happen with the help of business plans.
  • There is a 129% increased chance for entrepreneurs to go past the ‘startup’ phase through business plans.

You should create a business plan before you decide to quit your regular job. It can help you realize whether you are ready or not.

Also, creating a business plan is helpful when:

  • You want to attract investments or funding from external parties
  • You want to find a new partner or co-founder
  • You want to attract talented professionals to join your startup
  • You need to change things up due to the slow growth

While creating a business plan is an important step, you first have to know how to differentiate all the different types. This will help you choose the one that is most suitable for your business.

Here are the most common types of business plans and what you should include in each.

One-Pager Business Plan

Startup business plan, internal business plan, strategic business plan, feasibility business plan.

The one-pager is a business plan that only includes the most important aspects of your business. It is essentially a simplified version of a traditional business plan.

When creating the one-pager business plan, your primary focus should be on making it easily understandable.

Since this business plan is rather short, you should avoid using lengthy paragraphs. Each section should be around 1-2 sentences long.

The things you should include in a one-pager business plan are:

  • The problem – Describe a certain problem your customers have and support the claim with relevant data.
  • The solution – How your products/services can solve the issue.
  • Business model – Your plan on how to make money. Include production costs, selling costs, and the price of the product.
  • Target market – Describe your ideal customer persona. Start with a broad audience and narrow it down by using TAM, SAM, and SOM models. This lets investors in on your thought process. To understand these models better, check out, for example, the importance of proper TAM evaluation for B2B startups .
  • Competitive advantage – How are you different from your competitors?
  • Management team – Include your business’s management structure.
  • Financial summary – This part should revolve around the most significant financial metrics (profit, loss, cash flow, balance sheet, and sales forecast).
  • Required funding – Define how much money you need to make your project a success.

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marketing_overview_hubspot_ga_dashboard_preview

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Related : Check out our comprehensive guide on writing a marketing plan report .

New businesses use startup business plans to outline their launching ideas and strategies to attract funding and investment opportunities. When creating startup business plans, you should primarily focus on the financial aspect and provide evidence that supports it (e.g. market research).

These are some of the main things that should be included:

  • Vision statement – Explain your vision for the company and include the overall business goals you will try to achieve.
  • Executive summary – A quick overview of what your company is about and what will make it successful. Make sure to include your products/services, basic leadership information, employees, and location.
  • Company description – A detailed overview of your company. Talk about the problems you will solve and be specific about customers, organizations, and growth plans. This is the place where you should state your business’s main advantages.
  • Market Analysis – Show investors that you have a good understanding of your industry and target market by providing a detailed market analysis. Try to point out certain trends, themes, or patterns that support your objective.
  • Organization and management – This section explains the structure and the management hierarchy. Also, describe the legal structure of your business.
  • Service or product line – Go into detail about the products and services you are going to sell. Explain the benefits they bring and share your intellectual property plans.
  • Marketing and sales – Talk about your marketing strategy and describe how you plan to attract new customers.
  • Financial projections – This section should be about convincing your readers why the business will be a financial success. Create a prospective financial outlook for the next few years and it includes forecasts.

An internal business plan is a document that specifically focuses on the activities within your company. While external business plans focus on attracting investors, internal business plans keep your team aligned on achieving goals.

Related : Internal vs. External Reporting: What Are the Differences?

This business plan can differentiate based on how specific you want it to be. For example, you can focus on a specific part of the business (e.g. financial department) or on the overall goals of the whole company.

Nonetheless, here are some things that should universally be included in all internal business plans:

  • Mission statement – Focus on the practical, day-to-day activities that your employees can undertake to achieve overall objectives.
  • Objectives – Provide specific goals that you want your company to achieve. Make the objectives clear and explain in which way they can be reached. Focus more on short-term objectives and set reasonable deadlines.
  • Strategies – Talk about the general activities that will help your team reach the set objectives. Provide research that will describe how these strategies will be useful in the long term.
  • Action plans – These plans revolve around particular activities from your strategy. For example, you could include a new product that you want to create or a more efficient marketing plan.
  • Sustainability – This refers to the general probability of achieving the goals you set in the internal report. Sometimes, plans may seem overly ambitious and you are going to have to make amends with certain things.

A strategic business plan is the best way to gain a comprehensive outlook of your business. In this document, forecasts are examined even further and growth goals tend to be higher.

By creating a strategic business plan, you will have an easier time aligning your key stakeholders around the company’s priorities.

Here is a quick overview of what a strategic business plan should include:

  • Executive summary – Since strategic business plans are generally lengthy, not all executives will have time to go through it. This is why you should include a quick overview of the plan through an executive summary, you can also create an executive summary template to make the step easily repeatable.
  • Vision statement – Describe what you wish to achieve in the long term.
  • Company overview – This refers to past achievements, current products/services, recent sales performances, and important KPIs.
  • Core values – This section should provide an explanation of what drives the business to do what it does.
  • Strategic analysis of internal and external environments – Talk about the current organizational structure, mission statements, and department challenges.
  • Strategic objectives – Go into detail about the short-term objectives your team should reach in a specific period. Make sure the objectives are clear and understandable.
  • Overall goals – This section should include operational goals, marketing goals, and financial goals.

A feasibility business plan is also known as a feasibility study. It essentially provides a foundation for what would be a full and comprehensive business plan. The primary focus of a feasibility plan is research.

The things you should include in a feasibility plan are:

  • Product demand – Is there a high demand for your product? Would customers be interested in buying it?
  • Market conditions – Determine the customer persona that would be interested in buying your products. Include demographic factors.
  • Pricing – Compare your desired price with the current pricing of similar products. Which price would make your service profitable?
  • Risks – Determine the risks of launching this new business.
  • Success profitability – Is there a good way to overcome the risks and make your company profitable?

How Do You Write a Business Plan Report?

As we explained in the previous heading, there are a few different types of business plan. Depending on the audience you are referring to, the language you use in the plan should be adjusted accordingly.

Nonetheless, there are certain key elements that should be included in all business plans, the only thing that will vary is how detailed the sections will be.

Include these elements in your business plan.

Executive summary

Company description, market opportunity and analysis, competitive landscape, target audience, describe your product or service, develop a marketing and sales strategy, develop a logistics and operations plan, financial projections, explain your funding request, compile an appendix for official documents.

An executive summary is a quick overview of the document as a whole that allows investors and key stakeholders to quickly understand all the pain points from the report.

It is the best way to layout all the vital information about your business to bank officials and key stakeholders who don’t have the time to go through the whole business plan.

If you summarize the sections well, the potential investors will jump into the sections they are most interested in to acquire more details.

You should write the executive summary last since you will then have a better idea of what should be included.

A good executive summary answers these questions:

  • Who are you?
  • What do you sell?
  • How profitable is it?
  • How much money do you need?

This section of the business plan aims to introduce your company as a whole. The things you include in the company description can vary depending on if you are only starting a business or you already have a developed company.

The elements included in this section are:

  • Structure and ownership – Talk about who the key shareholders in your company are and provide a full list of names. Also, mention details such as where the company is registered and what the legal structure looks like. In most countries, this is a legal requirement for AML regulations.
  • History – This segment is if you already have an existing company. Use this section to show your credibility. Include company milestones, past difficulties, and a precise date for how long your company has been operating.
  • Objectives – Describe the overall objectives of your company and how you plan to reach them.

Market analysis refers to creating your ideal customer persona and explaining why they would be interested in buying your products.

Market opportunities are the gaps that you found in the current industries and creating a way for your product to fill those gaps.

The most important step in this section is to create a target market (persona) through demographic factors such as location, income, gender, education, age, profession, and hobbies.

Make sure that your target market isn’t too broad since it can put off potential investors.

A good idea is to also include a detailed analysis of your competitors – talk about their products, strengths, and weaknesses.

Related : 12 Best Tools Marketers Use for Market Research

Although you may include a competitive analysis in the market analysis section, this segment should provide a more detailed overview.

Identify other companies that sell similar products to yours and create a list of their advantages and disadvantages. Learning about your competitors may seem overwhelming, but it’s an indispensable part of a good business plan.

Include a comparison landscape as well that defines the things that set you apart from the competitors. Describe the strengths of your product and show which problems it could solve.

Related : How to Do an SEO Competitive Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide

Use the target audience section to fully describe the details of your ideal customer persona. Include both demographic and psychographic factors.

Ask yourself:

  • What are the demographic characteristics of the people who will buy my product?
  • What are their desires?
  • What makes my product valuable to them?

Make sure to answer all of these questions to get in the mindset of your customers.

If you need more details on how to identify your target audience , check our full expert guide.

When talking about your products and services, be as precise as possible. Mention your target audience and the marketing channels you use for targeting this audience.

This section should reveal the benefits, life cycle, and production process of your products/services. Also, it is a good idea to include some pictures of your products if possible.

When describing your products, you should highlight:

  • Unique features
  • Intellectual property rights
  • What makes the product beneficial

Marketing is the blood flow to your business’s body. Without a good marketing and sales strategy, the chances of your product succeeding are very slim.

It’s always best to already have a marketing plan in place before launching your business. By identifying the best marketing channels, you will show your investors that you researched this topic in detail.

Some of the things you should include are:

  • Reach – Explain why a specific channel will be able to reach your target market
  • Cost – Is the marketing strategy going to be cost-effective? How much money do you plan on spending on the strategy?
  • Competition – Are your competitors already using this channel? If so, what will make your product stand out?
  • Implementation – Who will be taking care of the implementation process? Is it a marketing expert? Which suppliers did you reach out to?

Related : 14 Reasons Sales And Marketing Alignment Is Crucial for Skyrocketing Company Growth

This section should explain the details of how exactly your company is going to operate.

These are the things you should include:

  • Personnel plan – Define how many people you plan to employ and their roles. Also, if you plan on increasing your staff, you should explain what would be the cause of that.
  • Key assets – This refers to assets that will be crucial for your company’s operation.
  • Suppliers – Mention who your suppliers will be and what kind of relationship you have with them. Your investors will be interested in this part of the section since they want to be reassured that you are cooperating with respectable counterparties.

The financial projections section is one of the most important parts of your business plan. It includes a detailed overview of expected sales, revenue, profit, expenses, and all the other important financial metrics .

You should show your investors that your business will be profitable, stable, and that it has huge potential for cash generation.

Monthly numbers for the first year are crucial since this will be the most critical year of your company.

At the very least, you should provide:

  • Funding needs
  • Profit-and-loss statement forecast
  • Balance sheet forecast
  • Cash-flow statement forecast

Related : How to Write a Great Financial Report? Tips and Best Practices

When providing the funding request, be realistic. Explain why you need that exact amount of money and where it will be allocated.

Also, create both a best-case and worst-case scenario. New companies don’t have a history of generating profits which is why you will probably have to sell equity in the early years to raise enough capital.

This will be the final section of your business plan. Include any material or piece of information that investors can use to analyze the data in your report. 

Things that could be helpful are:

  • Local permits
  • Legal documents
  • Certifications that boost credibility
  • Intellectual properties or patents
  • Purchase orders and customer contracts

After reading the previous heading, you should have a clear idea of how to write a compelling business plan.

But, just to be sure, we prepared some additional information that can be very helpful.

Here are some of the best practices you should implement in your business plan according to the most successful companies.

Keep it brief

Make it understandable, be meticulous about money, design is important.

Generally, business plans will be around 10-20 pages long. Your main focus should be to cover the essentials that we talked about, but you don’t want to overdo it by including unnecessary and overwhelming information.

In business plan, less is more.

Create a good organizational outline of your sections. This will allow investors to easily navigate to the parts they are most interested in reading.

Avoid using jargon – everyone should be able to easily understand your business plan without having to Google certain terms. 

Make a list of all the expenses your business incurs. Financial information should be maximally precise since it will directly impact the investor’s decision to fund your business idea.

After you wrap up your business plan, take a day off and read it again. Fix any typos or grammatical errors that you overlooked the first time.

Make sure to use a professional layout, printing, and branding of your business plan. This is an important first impression for the readers of the document.

Now you know what a business plan is, how you can write it, and some of the best practices you can use to make it even better.

But, if you are still having certain difficulties coming up with a great business plan, here are a few examples that may be helpful.

HubSpot’s One-Page Business Plan

Bplan’s free business plan template, small business administration free business plan template.

This One-Page Business Plan was created by HubSpot and it can be a great way to start off your business plan journey on the right foot.

You already have fields such as Implementation Timeline, Required Funding, and Company Description created so you will just need to provide your specific information.

HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

This free business plan template highlights the financial points of the startup. If your primary focus will be your business’ financial plan and financial statements, you can use this template to save up some time.

It can also be useful for making sure everyone in your company understands the current financial health and what they can do to improve it.

BPlan’s Free Business Plan Template

If you need additional inspiration to kick start your own business plan, you can check out this free template by small business administration .

You just have to decide which type of plan you want to create and then review the format of how it should look like.

Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

Monitor and Report on the Performance of Your Business with Databox

Tracking your company’s performance is an indispensable part of quality decision-making. It is crucial that you know how your business strategy is performing and whether it needs to be optimized in certain areas.

However, doing this manually will undoubtedly take a hefty amount of your valuable time. You will have to log into all of the different tools, copy-paste the data into your reports, and then analyze it. And this isn’t a one-time thing – you have to do it at least once a month.

Luckily, Databox can lend a helping hand.

By using customizable dashboards from Databox, you will be able to connect data from all your different tools into one comprehensive report. Not only that, but you can also visualize the most important metrics to make your presentation to shareholders immensely more impactful.

Did you spend a lot of time cutting and pasting? Say ‘no more’ to that. You will be able to use that time to better analyze your business performances and monitor any significant changes that occur.

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How to get started with data collection and analytics at your business

Hero image of a laptop on a wooden surface, showing data analytics

We did some research and found that a SaaS company with around 50-100 employees, depending on its geographical location, can spend anywhere between $200k and $500k every year supporting its data efforts —even though it's not a core function of their business.

Collecting complex data? Here's how to automate your data collection .

When to start thinking about data collection and analytics

The short answer: now. You should start measuring your activities as early as possible. Whether you have 1, 10, or 100 customers, the products you're using are already collecting data about your business. Invoicing software has all your billing details, your internal database has all the trials, your CRM stores interactions you had with potential customers. The longer you wait to collect this data in a way that makes sense, the less useful these will be as they scale.

So really, it's never too early. If you try to raise funds, you will be asked about historical data, six months or a year back. And if you haven't thought about it, you'll have to scramble to get the data, pull together a not-well-thought-out spreadsheet—it's not a good look.

Be clear on what you want to measure

It's much easier to say "I want to measure everything and be able to answer any questions with data" than it is to narrow things down to two or three key performance indicators (KPIs) that will measure your success given the stage of your business. That's why, more often than not, companies end up building solutions that are much too broad. They'll invest heavily in in-house data collection, use tools that require a lot of expertise, and spend a ton of money doing it all.

So: think hard about the metrics that drive all of your actions. Is it product adoption? Number of demo meetings? Your new MRR goal? Once you figure that out, it will be easier for you to build an effective solution with low effort.

Data reports from probe.io

It's also easier to make decisions and correlate data when you're measuring a limited number of things. If you have too many metrics, it's a sign that you didn't have a difficult discussion with your team about what really matters. 

And it's not just about knowing what you want to analyze—you also need to be clear on what you want to collect in the first place. At a previous company, we collected every little interaction a user had with our product. It ended up becoming so complicated that even our developers weren't fluent with the system. And for most of the time, this data just increased our Amazon Web Services bills while being very rarely used. 

6 things to do early on with data collection and analysis

Once you're clear on what you want to measure, make sure you do the following things to make it easier to collect and analyze your data .

1. Decide on a unique ID that will identify each customer

You'll need a unique identifier for every customer's account created within your system. Why? Because there will be a moment when you'll want to match the same customer record between two different systems—say, your CRM and your billing software. There's no reliable attribute apart from a unique ID that will give you good results. People will register with one email for your trial, will use another one in payment details, and so on. And using email, business address, account number, or anything like that is going to lead to poor data quality. Forget it.

The best candidate for such an identifier is a unique ID generated by your system each time someone registers an account. Chances are that you already have such an ID inside your database. If not, you'll need to add it. 

2. Include the unique ID in every app you use

Now that you have your unique ID, you have to make sure that you're passing this ID to each system you're using. Let's say you use HubSpot as your CRM, Stripe for billing, and Intercom for communicating with customers.

Each of these systems allows you to add a custom attribute to the customer record. Make sure that each time you create a new customer record in these systems, you're passing your unique ID along with other details. That way, there's at least one attribute that can be reliably used to connect your data together. 

Note: If you're not using a billing system that allows you to easily connect your customer records to the invoices you've issued, you need to make sure that you add your unique customer ID to the invoice itself. You'll also want to include the name of the product or service the customer bought and the service start date and end date, if applicable. These attributes will save you a ton of time when you need to understand who paid for what and when.

3. Implement a simple marketing attribution model

It's important to understand how different customers find your product or service. We wrote a separate blog post on how to build a simple solution for marketing attribution, so take a look. The main takeaway: your attribution model shouldn't be overly complex.

4. Be organized, and have a simple structure to store your data

Introduce the simplest data structure possible at the very beginning to get your financial metrics covered. There are a lot of templates out there, but if you're in software as a service (SaaS) , you'll just need four attributes: unique customer ID, service start date, service end date (can be empty if you renew automatically), and total value of subscriptions.

I know many companies are forced to use various different billing systems at the same time. The important thing is to stay organized, introduce one simple format, and adjust your data to this format. This will make plotting charts and working this dataset way easier.

5. Know your source of truth

If two systems show two different answers, what's your source of truth? For example, if you need a reliable answer on how much customer X is paying you, which system do you go to? Is it your CRM or your accounting software or your billing and invoice app or the spreadsheet you're filling in manually?

It really doesn't matter which you choose, but you need to be sure everyone understands the source of truth. That way, when you have any doubt, you always know where to look for the truest answer.

And if you do find discrepancies, address them as quickly as possible: not only will you be able to better trust your numbers, but it will also be easier to apply more advanced machine learning models. So make sure your data are clean, and resolve issues as soon as they arise.

A note on using spreadsheets: Spreadsheets are fine when you're small. But once you hit about 100 customers, it starts getting messy. Even upgrading to a database can make a huge difference: you'll have better logs of what changed and when, and it offers more options for segmentation.

6. Use automation

Use tools like Zapier to help you push your unique identifier between different systems. When you only have a couple dozen customers, it seems easy enough to copy/paste, but automated data collection systems will remove repetitive work while also eliminating the potential for human error. 

Zapier is a no-code automation tool that lets you connect your apps into automated workflows, so that every person and every business can move forward at growth speed. Learn more about how it works .

As a founder, you're so close to the business that it can feel like you have a full understanding of what's going on with your data. But remember that you have a team working with you that doesn't have that visibility—and in order to scale, you need a system that anyone can use and understand. 

This was a guest post from Alex Kulbei, co-founder of Probe.  Probe  helps companies automate their monthly business review—contact them for a free consultation about analytics. Want to see your work on the Zapier blog? Read our guidelines and get in touch.

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Alex Kulbei

Alex is a co-founder of Probe, a product that helps companies automate monthly business reviews. He loves building products, working with customers, specialty coffee, books, and nature. He writes about his journey, and you can follow him @akulbei.

  • Small business
  • Data & analytics
  • Spreadsheets & databases

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How To Write a Business Plan for Data Analytics Company in 9 Steps: Checklist

By henry sheykin, resources on data analytics company.

  • Financial Model
  • Business Plan
  • Value Proposition
  • One-Page Business Plan

Welcome to our blog post on how to write a business plan for a data analytics company! In today's fast-paced digital world, data analytics has become an essential tool for businesses to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions. According to recent statistics, the global data analytics market is projected to reach a staggering $274.3 billion by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 29.7%. With such immense potential, now is the perfect time to dive into the world of data analytics and start your own AI-powered company!

Identify Your Target Market

Identifying your target market is a crucial step in developing a successful business plan for your data analytics company. Without a clear understanding of your target audience, it will be challenging to tailor your products and services to meet their specific needs. Here are a few key points to consider when identifying your target market:

  • Research demographics: Begin by conducting comprehensive market research to gather insights on demographics such as age, gender, location, and income level. This will help you understand who your potential customers are and how to effectively reach them.
  • Understand pain points: Dive deeper into your target market's pain points and challenges. Identify the problems they face in analyzing consumer behavior patterns and making informed decisions. By addressing these pain points, you can position your business as a valuable solution provider.
  • Define target industries: Determine which industries can benefit the most from your data analytics services. For example, you might find that retail, e-commerce, or healthcare sectors have a high demand for consumer behavior analysis. Focusing on specific industries will help you streamline your marketing efforts.
  • Use market research tools and databases to gather accurate data about your target market.
  • Engage with potential customers through surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gain deeper insights into their needs and preferences.
  • Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies that could impact your target market.

Identifying your target market is the foundation of your business plan. By understanding who your customers are and what they need, you can develop a data analytics company that provides valuable insights and solutions tailored to their specific requirements.

Conduct Market Research

Before starting a data analytics company, it's crucial to conduct thorough market research to understand the industry landscape, identify potential customers, and uncover any gaps or opportunities. This step will help you gather valuable insights about the market demands, trends, and preferences.

1. Identify Your Target Market: Begin by determining the specific industries or sectors you want to serve. Consider which businesses are most likely to benefit from data analytics services and have a high demand for consumer behavior analysis.

2. Understand Customer Needs: Dive deeper into the potential customers' needs and pain points. Identify the challenges they face in analyzing consumer behavior and making informed decisions. This will help you tailor your services to meet their specific requirements.

3. Segment Your Market: Divide your target market into specific segments based on industry, company size, location, or any other relevant factors. This will allow you to create targeted marketing campaigns and customize your offerings to meet the unique needs of each segment.

4. Analyze Market Trends and Competitors: Research the current market trends in data analytics and identify other companies offering similar services. Understand their strengths, weaknesses, pricing models, and target markets. This analysis will help you position your company effectively and differentiate yourself from the competition.

5. Gather Customer Feedback: Engage with potential customers and conduct surveys or interviews to gather feedback on their preferences, pain points, and expectations from a data analytics company. This feedback will be invaluable in refining your offerings and serving your customers better.

Tips for Effective Market Research:

  • Use a combination of primary and secondary research methods.
  • Explore online platforms, industry reports, and databases for market data.
  • Attend industry conferences and trade shows to network with potential clients and competitors.
  • Consider hiring a market research firm for professional insights and analysis.
  • Regularly update your market research to stay up-to-date with changing trends and customer demands.

Conducting comprehensive market research will lay a strong foundation for your data analytics company. It will provide you with valuable information to fine-tune your business strategy, identify your target audience, and create a compelling value proposition that differentiates your company in the market.

Define Your Unique Value Proposition

When starting a data analytics company, it is essential to define your unique value proposition. This is the statement that clearly outlines the benefits and value your company will provide to clients, differentiating you from the competition.

Here are some steps to help you define your unique value proposition:

  • Identify the problem: Understand the pain points and challenges faced by businesses in relation to consumer behavior analysis. Determine how your data analytics solutions can address these problems effectively.
  • Highlight your expertise: Showcase your team's skills, knowledge, and experience in data analytics. Emphasize any relevant certifications, advanced technologies, or proprietary methodologies that set you apart.
  • Focus on specific benefits: Clearly communicate the tangible benefits that businesses will gain from utilizing your data analytics services. Whether it's increased sales, improved customer satisfaction, or enhanced decision-making, emphasize how your solutions deliver value.
  • Offer a unique approach: Differentiate yourself by outlining a distinctive approach to data analytics. This could be through advanced AI algorithms, real-time insights, or customized solutions tailored to each client's specific needs.
  • Showcase client success stories: Provide examples of how your data analytics solutions have helped previous clients achieve their goals. Highlight specific outcomes and metrics to demonstrate the effectiveness of your services.
  • Keep your unique value proposition concise and clear.
  • Ensure that your value proposition aligns with the needs and expectations of your target market.
  • Continuously refine and adapt your value proposition as the industry and client demands evolve.
  • Regularly analyze and assess your competitors' value propositions to ensure yours stands out.

Defining your unique value proposition is crucial for effectively positioning your data analytics company in the market. It helps potential clients understand why they should choose your services over others and sets the foundation for building long-lasting client relationships.

Analyze The Competition

An important step in writing a business plan for a data analytics company is to thoroughly analyze the competition . This will help you understand the existing players in the market, their strengths and weaknesses, and how you can differentiate your business.

To begin with, conduct detailed research on similar companies operating in the data analytics industry. Identify their target market, the range of services they offer, their pricing strategies, and their customer base. Take note of any unique features or value propositions that set them apart from others .

  • 1. Understand their strengths and weaknesses: Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, such as the quality of their data analysis, their technology infrastructure, or their customer service. Use this information to find a competitive edge for your own business.
  • 2. Identify any gaps or opportunities: Analyze the gaps or shortcomings in the services provided by your competitors. These gaps could be potential opportunities for your business to offer specialized services that fulfill those needs.
  • 3. Evaluate their pricing models: Examine the pricing models of your competitors to determine if they are significantly higher or lower than industry standards. Based on this analysis, you can set competitive pricing for your own services.
  • 4. Study customer feedback: Look for customer reviews, testimonials, or feedback on your competitors' services. This will give you insights into their customer satisfaction levels and areas where they may have fallen short.
  • Regularly monitor the market to stay updated on any new competitors entering the data analytics industry.
  • Consider conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to further understand your competitors and determine how you can gain a competitive advantage.
  • Networking with industry professionals or attending conferences can provide valuable insights into your competition and the industry as a whole.

By thoroughly analyzing the competition, you can develop strategies to differentiate your data analytics company, highlight your unique value propositions, and position yourself effectively in the market.

Determine The Necessary Resources And Costs

When starting a data analytics company, it is crucial to determine the necessary resources and costs involved in setting up and operating the business. This step will help you understand the financial requirements and ensure that you have everything you need to run your company successfully.

1. Identify the technology and tools: Determine the software, hardware, and other technology resources required for your data analytics company. Consider the cost of purchasing or subscribing to these tools and ensure they align with your business needs and goals.

2. Calculate staffing needs: Determine the number of employees and their specific skillsets required to operate your data analytics company efficiently. Consider the costs associated with hiring and training employees, as well as ongoing salaries and benefits.

  • Consider hiring individuals with expertise in data science, machine learning, programming, and statistics to ensure your company can provide high-quality analytics services.
  • Consider outsourcing certain tasks or partnering with freelancers or third-party consultants to reduce costs.

3. Estimate infrastructure requirements: Assess the infrastructure needs for your data analytics company, such as office space, internet connectivity, data storage, and security measures. Calculate the associated costs, including rent, utilities, internet service provider fees, and cybersecurity solutions.

4. Determine data acquisition costs: Analyze the costs involved in acquiring the necessary data for your analytics operations. This may include purchasing data sets, subscribing to data providers, or developing partnerships with relevant data sources.

5. Budget for marketing and advertising: Allocate a portion of your resources for marketing and advertising efforts to promote your data analytics company. Consider social media marketing, content creation, search engine optimization, and other strategies to reach your target market effectively.

6. Analyze legal and regulatory compliance costs: Understand the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to your data analytics company and factor in the associated costs. This may include obtaining necessary licenses or certifications, compliance with data privacy regulations, and hiring legal counsel when needed.

By carefully determining the necessary resources and costs, you can create a realistic budget and ensure that your data analytics company operates smoothly and efficiently from the start.

Develop A Solid Financial Plan

A solid financial plan is crucial for the success of any business, especially for a data analytics company. It helps you understand the financial viability of your business idea and ensures that you have a clear roadmap for managing your resources and finances.

Here are the key steps to develop a solid financial plan for your data analytics company:

  • Estimate your startup costs: Determine the initial investment required to set up your company, which may include purchasing software and infrastructure, hiring employees, and covering other operational expenses. It is essential to have a realistic estimate of your startup costs to secure adequate funding.
  • Project your revenue: Conduct thorough market research to estimate the potential revenue that your data analytics services can generate. Consider factors like the size of your target market, pricing strategies, and potential growth opportunities. This projection will help you set achievable revenue goals.
  • Create a budget: Based on your estimated revenue and startup costs, develop a detailed budget that outlines all your financial requirements. Include expenses like employee salaries, marketing costs, and operational expenses. Periodically review and update your budget as necessary to ensure effective financial management.
  • Secure funding: Identify the funding sources that align with your financial needs. This can include self-funding, seeking investments from venture capitalists or angel investors, or applying for business loans. Be prepared to present a comprehensive financial plan to potential investors or lenders to convince them of the profitability and sustainability of your business.
  • Monitor and analyze financial performance: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your company's financial performance, such as revenue growth, profitability ratios, and cash flow. Regularly track and analyze these metrics to identify areas for improvement and make informed financial decisions.

Tips for developing a solid financial plan:

  • Seek advice from financial experts or consultants who specialize in the data analytics industry. They can provide valuable insights and help ensure that your financial plan aligns with industry standards and best practices.
  • Consider potential risks and uncertainties that may impact your financial plan, such as changes in market trends, regulatory requirements, or technological advancements. Develop contingency plans to mitigate these risks.
  • Keep your financial plan flexible and adaptable to accommodate changes in your business environment. Regularly review and update your financial projections and strategies to stay ahead of the competition.

Create A Marketing Strategy

A strong marketing strategy is essential for the success of any business, including a data analytics company. It helps you promote your services effectively, attract potential clients, and build a reputable brand in the market. Here are some important steps to consider when creating your marketing strategy:

  • Identify your target audience: Determine the specific industries or businesses that can benefit from your data analytics services. Understanding their needs and preferences will help you tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
  • Develop a compelling value proposition: Clearly communicate the unique benefits and advantages that your company offers compared to competitors. Highlight how your AI-powered technology can provide valuable insights and drive informed decision-making for businesses.
  • Choose the right marketing channels: Identify the most effective channels to reach your target audience. This may include digital platforms such as websites, social media, and email marketing, as well as offline methods like industry events and conferences.
  • Create engaging content: Produce high-quality content that educates, informs, and engages your target audience. This could include blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, and videos that showcase your expertise in data analytics.
  • Utilize search engine optimization (SEO): Optimize your website and content for search engines to attract organic traffic. Conduct keyword research to understand the specific terms and phrases your target audience searches for.
  • Establish strategic partnerships: Collaborate with relevant industry influencers, businesses, or associations that can help promote your services to their network. This can enhance your credibility and reach a wider audience.
  • Track and analyze your marketing efforts: Implement analytics tools to monitor the performance of your marketing campaigns. This will help you identify what strategies are most effective and make data-driven decisions to optimize your marketing tactics.

Tips for creating an effective marketing strategy for your data analytics company:

  • Stay up-to-date with industry trends: Continuously monitor and adapt to the latest advancements in data analytics and marketing techniques to stay ahead of the competition.
  • Build thought leadership: Regularly share knowledge and insights through thought leadership content to establish your company as a trusted authority in the field.
  • Utilize targeted advertising: Consider investing in paid advertising to reach a wider audience and target specific demographics or industries.
  • Leverage customer testimonials: Showcase success stories and testimonials from satisfied clients to build trust and credibility with potential customers.

Define Your Business Goals And Objectives

Defining clear and specific business goals and objectives is crucial for the success of your data analytics company. These goals and objectives will serve as your roadmap, guiding your business towards growth and profitability.

  • Identify your long-term vision: Start by determining where you want your company to be in the future. Consider the potential for expansion, partnerships, and other opportunities.
  • Set achievable short-term goals: Break down your long-term vision into smaller, actionable goals that you can work towards in the short term. These goals should be realistic and measurable.
  • Create objectives with clear metrics: Objectives are the specific targets you need to achieve to reach your goals. Ensure that your objectives are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
  • Align goals and objectives with your value proposition: Ensure that your business goals and objectives are aligned with your unique value proposition. This will help you create a focused strategy that sets you apart from competitors.

Tips for defining your business goals and objectives:

  • Involve key stakeholders: Seek input from key stakeholders such as employees, advisors, and customers to ensure that your goals and objectives are comprehensive and aligned with their expectations.
  • Prioritize: Focus on a few key goals and objectives that will have the most impact on your business. Trying to achieve too many goals simultaneously can lead to diluted efforts and lack of progress.
  • Monitor and adjust: Regularly review and monitor your progress towards your goals and objectives. If necessary, make adjustments to your strategies or objectives to stay on track.
  • Communicate your goals and objectives: Share your goals and objectives with your team members to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards the same vision. Regularly communicate progress and celebrate milestones.

By defining clear and well-defined business goals and objectives, you will have a focused direction for your data analytics company. This will not only help you stay motivated but also allow you to measure your success and make necessary adjustments along the way.

Establish A Legal And Regulatory Framework

When starting a data analytics company, it is crucial to establish a legal and regulatory framework to ensure compliance and protect your business interests. Here are some important steps to consider:

  • Consult with legal experts: Seek advice from lawyers experienced in data privacy, intellectual property, and contract law. They can help you navigate complex legal issues and ensure your compliance with relevant regulations.
  • Secure intellectual property rights: Protect your proprietary algorithms, software, and data models by filing for patents, copyrights, or trademarks. This can safeguard your unique technology and give you a competitive advantage.
  • Implement data privacy measures: Analyzing consumer behavior patterns involves handling sensitive and personal information. Establish rigorous data protection protocols and comply with data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
  • Ensure ethical practices: Maintain transparency and honesty while collecting, analyzing, and utilizing consumer data. Develop an ethical code of conduct to guide your team's actions and create trust among your clients.
  • Obtain necessary licenses and permits: Research the licensing requirements specific to your industry and location. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may need permits or certifications to operate legally.
  • Create clear agreements: Draft contracts and service agreements that outline the terms and conditions of your data analytics services. Clarify client obligations, confidentiality, data ownership, and legal liabilities to protect the interests of both parties.
  • Regularly review and update your legal and regulatory framework to adapt to changing laws and industry standards.
  • Consider getting liability insurance to protect your business against potential lawsuits or data breaches.
  • Stay informed about emerging regulations and industry best practices to stay ahead of legal obligations.

By establishing a robust legal and regulatory framework , you can ensure your data analytics company operates legally, ethically, and with the necessary safeguards in place. This helps you build trust with clients and protects your business from legal challenges in the future.

In conclusion, writing a business plan for a data analytics company requires careful consideration of various factors. By following the nine-step checklist outlined above, you can create a comprehensive and effective plan that sets your company up for success.

Begin by identifying your target market and conducting thorough market research to understand their needs and preferences. Next, define your unique value proposition and analyze your competition to differentiate yourself in the market.

Furthermore, determine the necessary resources and costs, considering the technology and talent required for your AI-powered data analytics company. Develop a solid financial plan to ensure sustainability and profitability.

Create a marketing strategy to promote your services and attract clients, and establish clear business goals and objectives to guide your company's growth. Finally, ensure compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks to protect your business.

By going through these steps, you will be well-equipped to write a comprehensive business plan that demonstrates your expertise and potential in the data analytics industry.

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How to Write a Customer Analysis

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Elon Glucklich

9 min. read

Updated October 27, 2023

You’ve been hard at work conducting market research into your potential customers— developing a deep understanding of industry dynamics and the potential size of your market .

Hopefully, you’ve also spent time interviewing potential customers—learning about their behaviors and needs, and digging into publicly available data to support your research. 

But you still need to document these findings in a way that gives you an actionable road map to grow your customer base.

This is where a well-written customer analysis can be extremely useful. 

Including a customer analysis in your business plan will boost your marketing efforts by identifying your target customers , their needs, and how your product or service addresses these needs.

  • Customer analysis vs market analysis

A market analysis is a broader exploration of the market and potential customers.  A customer analysis zooms in on the specific behavioral or demographic characteristics of individual customer segments in your target market.

The market analysis includes details like the number of customers you hope to serve and the types of competitors you must contend with. 

By contrast, the customer analysis looks at the specific attributes of your potential customers – their personal habits, values, beliefs, and other characteristics that might affect their purchasing decisions.

  • What should a customer analysis include?

Demographics

Some of the earliest information you’ve collected probably about your customers includes:

  • Gender/ethnicity
  • Income level
  • Geographic area
  • Education level

Example: Suppose you own a business that creates an environmentally friendly cleaning product . Your customer demographics might include: 

  • Age range: 30-60 (old enough to have used a variety of cleaning products in their homes)
  • Income: Above average (more likely to buy a higher-priced alternative to discount cleaning products)
  • Education level: college degree or equivalent (high enough education level to understand the product’s societal benefits).
  • Employment: full-time employee

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Values and beliefs

This section captures the psychological and emotional factors that influence customer behavior. 

  • Cultural backgrounds
  • Ethical values

Let’s return to the environmentally friendly cleaning product example. You are more likely to attract customers who prioritize sustainability and are willing to pay more for products that match their values.

Buying behaviors

Analyzing buying behaviors involves understanding how, when, and why customers purchase. These behaviors impact:

  • The channels customers prefer for shopping
  • Price sensitivity
  • Factors that trigger a buying decision

Example: Suppose you’re running an environmentally friendly cleaning products business. In that case, you might discover that most of your customers buy their cleaning products from a magazine for homeowners or that they typically buy multiple cleaning products simultaneously. 

Technology use

Nearly three-quarters of small businesses have a website . Even if your business doesn’t have one, your customers are, without a doubt, browsing the internet. 

So it’s critical to understand how your target customers interact with technology and to set up an online presence for your business if you aren’t already active. 

Key questions about customers’ technology habits include:

  • Are they active on social media? If so, which platforms? 
  • Do they prefer online shopping or in-store visits? 
  • Are they more likely to respond to email marketing, blog content, or social media campaigns?

Example: Let’s say you discover that significantly more of your target customers visit websites like yours on a smartphone than a desktop. In that case, it would be important to optimize your website for mobile viewing or develop a user-friendly app . 

  • 5 steps to write a customer analysis for your business plan

Now that we understand the individual pieces of a customer analysis, we’ll examine how to write a customer analysis for your business plan .

1. Use existing data

Regardless of your country, there are likely numerous sources of data published by government agencies, private industry, or educational institutions that could be relevant to your business.

Finding existing data is the best starting point for your customer analysis. It’s easy to find, it’s regularly updated, and it’s immensely valuable for providing context for your research. 

For instance, if you determine that your target demographic is people between 30 and 60, Census data can help you determine the number of residents in your selling area within that age range.

We’ll look at some examples of publicly available data for businesses operating in the United States.

U.S. Census Bureau

The Census Bureau publishes official population counts for the country, states, and local communities. Demographic characteristics like age, gender, and race sort the data. Census data also includes useful data for businesses, such as the total number of businesses, employment counts, and average incomes in local communities across the country.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks changes in the U.S. workforce and the overall state of the labor market. The BLS publishes the Consumer Price Index , tracks consumer spending, and gauges overall consumer confidence. 

Examining this data can give you insights into the willingness of consumers to pay for your product or service.

Bureau of Economic Analysis

The Bureau of Economic Analysis takes a broader look at the performance of the U.S. Economy. You can use BEA data to find personal income and corporate profit data by industry. 

If you make a product or service used by other businesses, these figures can help you understand the financial health of the broad customer base you’re targeting.

Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve publishes various financial reports, such as consumer credit and spending statistics , as well as the health of banks. 

This data can give you important context about the financial health of your customers, which could help you determine pricing strategies—like whether you should offer flexible payment plans.

Industry associations

There are thousands of private sector industry associations in the United States alone. These organizations not only advocate for the businesses in their field. They provide members with a wealth of helpful information, such as “state of the industry” reports and business surveys. 

You should leverage customer data from these peer organizations as a business owner.

Academic institutions

Many university business schools make their research publicly available online. Scholars make a career out of researching market and industry trends, and much of their work is available through online searches. 

2. Review customer feedback

One of the most direct ways to show an understanding of your customers in your analysis is by reviewing their feedback.

If you’re a new business without direct customer feedback yet, that’s OK. Instead, look around at what people are saying about your competitors . You might find common complaints from customers in your industry about the products available. 

You can then reach out and interview potential customers to better understand their needs.

If you have an existing business, there may already be reviews of your company on Google or social media sites like LinkedIn. Doing so can help you determine if customers are struggling to use your product or have suggestions for improvements. 

Read as many reviews as possible, and use them to show an understanding of your customers’ needs in your analysis.

3. Use third-party data

So far, we’ve discussed free, publicly available sources to find information about your customers. 

But for those willing to dig deeper, third-party data providers can help you uncover information that’s truly unique to your business and your customers.

Google Analytics

Third-party data providers like Google track the activity of users across numerous websites. Google has its own tool, Google Analytics , which makes that information available on your company’s website.

This data is a gold mine for understanding your customers. Besides giving you a demographic and geographic breakdown of your visitors, it can tell if they view your site on a desktop or smartphone, what pages they’re clicking, navigating around your site, and much more.

For new business owners, Google Trends is a powerful tool to discover what people are searching for online. 

For the environmentally friendly cleaning products business we’ve used as an example—you could see how many people are searching on Google for information about products like floor cleaners or dishwasher detergents.

Social media metrics

If your business uses social media, there are plenty of tools to help you understand your audience on these platforms. 

Many social media companies make their data available to businesses at a cost. For instance, the Facebook Audience Insights platform gives you information about the types of people who visit your page or interact with your posts.

There are also third-party tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer, which track various metrics across social media platforms.

Wherever you find the data, including social media metrics in your customer analysis provides instant feedback about how customers interact with your business.

Specialty tools

Software companies have created numerous tools that collect and analyze customer data from various online sources. 

Audience research tools like SparkToro and FullStory analyze large amounts of data online and spot trends—such as the topics people discuss online and which websites or social media accounts those audiences visit. 

These are insights that would be incredibly time-consuming to get directly from customers. However, understanding where potential customers spend time online and what they talk about can easily turn your analysis into a targeted marketing campaign that addresses their needs.

4. Create a customer persona

After gathering and analyzing all this data, you should have plenty of information about your customers. The next step is to create a customer persona . In case you need a refresher, the customer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on your collected data.

For example, a customer persona for that environmentally friendly cleaning products business will reflect that audience’s demographics, behaviors, and needs. 

Example of a written customer persona. Name of the persona is "Nature's Cleaners". It includes demographics, values and beliefs, buying behaviors, and technology use.

In addition to being an effective tool to focus your marketing efforts, creating this persona can help determine the size of your customer base and how to prioritize your time and resources to attract them to your business. It’s also helpful to show potential investors you know your target audience.

5. Connect to your problem/solution statement

Many business plans include a problem and solution statement as early as the introduction. It’s a reasonable way to start, considering that successful businesses identify a problem and provide a solution. 

So as you put your customer analysis together, ensure the research is grounded in the problems they’re experiencing. Doing so will keep you accountable by making you validate your product or service as the solution they need.

  • Get started with your business plan template

A customer analysis is a key part of any business plan. But it’s just one piece. At Bplans, we take some of the pain out of business planning. 

We’ve developed a free business planning template to help reduce entrepreneurs’ time to create a full, lender-ready business plan.

Bplans has also collected over 550 free sample business plans across numerous industries. Find one that fits your industry to get inspiration and guidance when writing your plan.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Content Author: Elon Glucklich

Elon is a marketing specialist at Palo Alto Software, working with consultants, accountants, business instructors and others who use LivePlan at scale. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism and an MBA from the University of Oregon.

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CRENC Learn

How to Create a Data Analysis Plan: A Detailed Guide

by Barche Blaise | Aug 12, 2020 | Writing

how to create a data analysis plan

If a good research question equates to a story then, a roadmap will be very vita l for good storytelling. We advise every student/researcher to personally write his/her data analysis plan before seeking any advice. In this blog article, we will explore how to create a data analysis plan: the content and structure.

This data analysis plan serves as a roadmap to how data collected will be organised and analysed. It includes the following aspects:

  • Clearly states the research objectives and hypothesis
  • Identifies the dataset to be used
  • Inclusion and exclusion criteria
  • Clearly states the research variables
  • States statistical test hypotheses and the software for statistical analysis
  • Creating shell tables

1. Stating research question(s), objectives and hypotheses:

All research objectives or goals must be clearly stated. They must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). Hypotheses are theories obtained from personal experience or previous literature and they lay a foundation for the statistical methods that will be applied to extrapolate results to the entire population.

2. The dataset:

The dataset that will be used for statistical analysis must be described and important aspects of the dataset outlined. These include; owner of the dataset, how to get access to the dataset, how the dataset was checked for quality control and in what program is the dataset stored (Excel, Epi Info, SQL, Microsoft access etc.).

3. The inclusion and exclusion criteria :

They guide the aspects of the dataset that will be used for data analysis. These criteria will also guide the choice of variables included in the main analysis.

4. Variables:

Every variable collected in the study should be clearly stated. They should be presented based on the level of measurement (ordinal/nominal or ratio/interval levels), or the role the variable plays in the study (independent/predictors or dependent/outcome variables). The variable types should also be outlined.  The variable type in conjunction with the research hypothesis forms the basis for selecting the appropriate statistical tests for inferential statistics. A good data analysis plan should summarize the variables as demonstrated in Figure 1 below.

Presentation of variables in a data analysis plan

5. Statistical software

There are tons of software packages for data analysis, some common examples are SPSS, Epi Info, SAS, STATA, Microsoft Excel. Include the version number,  year of release and author/manufacturer. Beginners have the tendency to try different software and finally not master any. It is rather good to select one and master it because almost all statistical software have the same performance for basic and the majority of advance analysis needed for a student thesis. This is what we recommend to all our students at CRENC before they begin writing their results section .

6. Selecting the appropriate statistical method to test hypotheses

Depending on the research question, hypothesis and type of variable, several statistical methods can be used to answer the research question appropriately. This aspect of the data analysis plan outlines clearly why each statistical method will be used to test hypotheses. The level of statistical significance (p-value) which is often but not always <0.05 should also be written.  Presented in figures 2a and 2b are decision trees for some common statistical tests based on the variable type and research question

A good analysis plan should clearly describe how missing data will be analysed.

How to choose a statistical method to determine association between variables

7. Creating shell tables

Data analysis involves three levels of analysis; univariable, bivariable and multivariable analysis with increasing order of complexity. Shell tables should be created in anticipation for the results that will be obtained from these different levels of analysis. Read our blog article on how to present tables and figures for more details. Suppose you carry out a study to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of a certain disease “X” in a population, then the shell tables can be represented as in Tables 1, Table 2 and Table 3 below.

Table 1: Example of a shell table from univariate analysis

Example of a shell table from univariate analysis

Table 2: Example of a shell table from bivariate analysis

Example of a shell table from bivariate analysis

Table 3: Example of a shell table from multivariate analysis

Example of a shell table from multivariate analysis

aOR = adjusted odds ratio

Now that you have learned how to create a data analysis plan, these are the takeaway points. It should clearly state the:

  • Research question, objectives, and hypotheses
  • Dataset to be used
  • Variable types and their role
  • Statistical software and statistical methods
  • Shell tables for univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis

Further readings

Creating a Data Analysis Plan: What to Consider When Choosing Statistics for a Study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4552232/pdf/cjhp-68-311.pdf

Creating an Analysis Plan: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/fetp/training_modules/9/creating-analysis-plan_pw_final_09242013.pdf

Data Analysis Plan: https://www.statisticssolutions.com/dissertation-consulting-services/data-analysis-plan-2/

Photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com

Barche Blaise

Dr Barche is a physician and holds a Masters in Public Health. He is a senior fellow at CRENC with interests in Data Science and Data Analysis.

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16 comments.

Ewane Edwin, MD

Thanks. Quite informative.

James Tony

Educative write-up. Thanks.

Mabou Gabriel

Easy to understand. Thanks Dr

Amabo Miranda N.

Very explicit Dr. Thanks

Dongmo Roosvelt, MD

I will always remember how you help me conceptualize and understand data science in a simple way. I can only hope that someday I’ll be in a position to repay you, my dear friend.

Menda Blondelle

Plan d’analyse

Marc Lionel Ngamani

This is interesting, Thanks

Nkai

Very understandable and informative. Thank you..

Ndzeshang

love the figures.

Selemani C Ngwira

Nice, and informative

MONICA NAYEBARE

This is so much educative and good for beginners, I would love to recommend that you create and share a video because some people are able to grasp when there is an instructor. Lots of love

Kwasseu

Thank you Doctor very helpful.

Mbapah L. Tasha

Educative and clearly written. Thanks

Philomena Balera

Well said doctor,thank you.But when do you present in tables ,bars,pie chart etc?

Rasheda

Very informative guide!

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What is business analytics?

Man displays data on a screen to a conference room of individuals.

It should come as no surprise that big business decisions are made every single day at companies small and large. 

It is also well assumed that the best big decisions are ones with evidence and back them up—in the form of data. But how does data go from being raw information like surveys and click-through rates to being part of sometimes world-altering decision-making? Business analytics is how.

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The Online MS in Business Analytics from Pepperdine

The emphasis on data-powered decision-making is nothing new; in fact, businesses have known about its significance for years. A decade ago, Deloitte noted in a 2013 study that focus on big data and analytics were to be the “new normal” for maintaining growth. “Companies must focus on evolving their analytical maturity in addition to developing capabilities around rapid experimentation and trial and error. Remaining agile will be essential for handling this “new normal,” it stated.

So, with today there being hundreds of thousands of workers who describe themselves as business analysts (not to mention there now being an entire international organization dedicated to the field, the IIBA ), an important question lingers: what exactly even is business analytics? Fortune has you covered.

In the simplest terms, business analytics is the process or the ability to drive decisions using data and analytics, according to Anindya Ghose, the director of the master’s of science in business analytics program at New York University’s Stern School of Business. The school Stern is home to the no. 9 best MBA program , based on Fortune ’s ranking.

Business analytics is a field that is constantly evolving in accordance with technological developments. A few decades ago, business analytics was a much simpler domain in the typical business-tech space: spreadsheets could house information, trends could be identified using basic formulas, and data could be visualized to the team of decision-makers.

But today, business analytics is everywhere—in tech, healthcare, education, retail, media, and beyond. 

“The way we think about business analytics now—it’s a little bit of everything for everybody,” says Devanshu Mehrotra, curriculum developer and lead instructor at General Assembly, with a background in the world of analytics.

Business analytics is more so the art of data translating, says Mehrotra.

“And the idea is, since data is being democratized, and the idea is that specific organizations should own their data, they should be responsible for their data, then it’s important for there to be data translators,” he adds.

What skills do you need for business analytics?

While the exact skills needed to excel in business analytics may differ depending on industry, company, and level of experience, there are several foundations that are important to have, including:

  • Domain expertise: business fundamentals and relevant industry knowledge
  • Technical know-how: programming, data analysis, data visualization
  • Storytelling: translating data trends to business needs

The last point in particular was something Mehrotra and Ghose both emphasized as an area that really sets excellent business analysts apart from other fields. 

Additionally, knowledge of both high and low code tools are important technical aspects of the job, including for, as Mehrotra notes:

Because there are many data-related tools available—and every company may use something different—Mehrotra says it is important to be tool agnostic. 

“Multiple tools should be in your repertoire, (so) that you pick the tool based on the problem, not try and shove every problem into the two tools that you know,” he says. “And that’s why I’m always like—it’s do you understand the why before you understand the how.”

Ghose adds that in order to succeed in business analytics, having training in these two areas are of great importance:

  • Econometrics (advanced statistics and modeling)
  • Experimental design (creation and understanding of tests and behaviors)

It would also be remiss to not mention the criticality of AI in space. Like other fields, the tech is streamlining some of the day-to-day activities of business analytics. 

How can you learn business analytics?

Those wanting to get involved in business analytics are in luck because there are numerous ways to learn the in-demand skills.

When looking at traditional degree pathways, many universities have undergraduate and graduate degrees focused specifically on business analytics. ( Fortune ranks the best online master’s in business analytics ). And even if there is no program labeled business analytics directly, you can also gain through a combination of business and data science endeavors.

If a longer degree program is not for you, checking out a bootcamp or course in business analytics may provide a quicker, cheaper, and/or more flexible opportunity.

A few years ago, Mehrotra explains he may have recommended going down a traditional degree route, but because the world of analytics is always changing, a shorter program may be a better way to get the most up-to-date skills from instructors with recent industry experience.

“To me, I think long form education, specifically around these areas are not very impactful and not a good return on investment,” Mehrotra says. “I think short form and creating your own journey, so as to speak, is important and I do think that some kind of short form educational programs are a very important part of that.”

Regardless, what’s key to sticking out in a competitive job ecosystem is gaining hands-on projects, creating a portfolio, and learning from instructors with real-world experience, Mehrotra notes.

Studying business analytics also does not necessarily mean you are boxed in to becoming a business analyst. Other job titles may include data scientist , data analyst , market researcher, chief digital officer, chief data officer, head of product, and intelligence analyst.

“It’s now increasingly difficult, if not impossible to imagine—taking decisions without the help of computers, algorithms and data,” Ghose says. “So, you will almost certainly see lots of benefits from that. I think that is just the way of the world today will just continue to be even more ubiquitous as we proceed. So, jump in and join the party.”

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How to Write a Customer Analysis Section for Your Business Plan

Customer Analysis Template

Free Customer Analysis Template

Ayush Jalan

  • February 12, 2024

Customer Analysis_ Step-by-step Guide Understanding Your Customer

A successful business idea equips customers with the tools necessary to help them reach their goals and fulfill their needs—professional or personal. To create such products and services that meet (and exceed) your customers’ expectations, you need to study their personas via customer analysis.

Customer analysis is a vital part of your business plan that helps you identify, define, and understand your customer base. Analyzing your customers is also crucial for creating a successful marketing plan as it helps you communicate better with your customers.

In this article, you will learn how to conduct a customer analysis section for your business plan paired with a customer analysis example to help you create customer personas to study their personality traits, goals, challenges they face, and more.

What Is Customer Analysis?

Customer analysis is a comprehensive understanding of your customer base. It helps identify and describe your ideal customer. Through this in-depth analysis, you determine their needs, challenges, goals, and other important considerations. Given this info, it then helps you understand how effectively your products cater to them.

It further helps you optimize your strategic marketing process to create targeted advertisements, customize and prioritize specific features during product development, and make adjustments in your current business plan to align with your customer’s ever-changing demands.

How to Write a Customer Analysis Section

Writing a customer analysis includes extensive research and collecting data from various sources. This data consists of qualitative and quantitative aspects which help you write an accurate customer analysis for your business plan.

Steps to create customer analysis for your business plan

Writing a customer analysis has four main steps:

Step 1: Identify your customers

The primary step is to identify your potential customers and define their specific characteristics about them. The attained factual information is segmented into the following categories:

  • Demographic: Age, gender, income
  • Geographic: Location, type of area (Rural, suburban, urban)
  • Psychographic: Values, interests, beliefs, personality, lifestyle, social class
  • Technographic: Type of technology the buyer is using; tech-savviness
  • Behavioral: Habits, frequent actions, buying patterns
  • Industry (For B2B): Based on the industry a company belongs to.
  • Business size (For B2B): Size of the company

To obtain the above data, a great place to start for established businesses is your customer database. If you aim to expand this information, you can use your existing communication channels to gather further details through surveys.

If you are a startup, conducting an audience analysis analysis might seem impossible as you don’t have an existing customer base. Fortunately, there are numerous ways through which you can study your potential customers. A few of them are:

  • Identifying who would benefit from your product/service
  • Analyzing your competitors to understand their target customers
  • Using social media to prompt potential buyers to answer questionnaires

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Want to create a Customer Persona in Easy Steps?

Generate valuable customer insights in minutes with Free Customer Persona Generator .

Step 2: Define the needs of your Customers

Now that you have identified your customers, the next step is to understand and specify their needs and challenges. This is the step where you need to go hands-on with your research. Getting to know your customers’ needs helps you determine whether or not your product or service hits the mark.

To understand the needs of your customers, you can adopt the following approaches:

1. Engage directly with potential Customers

A very reliable way to get to know your customers is to simply ask them, either in person or on a call. You can reach out to your customers, conduct one-on-one interviews, create focus groups, and invite buyers to test your new products. You can collect an ample amount of data through these techniques.

However, we recommend prioritizing accuracy over the quantity of data.

A technique that can help you get a deeper insight into your customer’s needs and opinions is the five whys technique . While practicing so, be mindful of the way you conduct the interview. It is essential to keep the customers in a comfortable and conversational environment to attain accurate answers.

2. Collect data from your Customer support

Customer support is the place where you can find feedback and criticism given by your customers. Analyzing this data helps you understand the pain points of your customers. You can further elaborate on this data by interacting with the customers who had issues with your products.

3. Run surveys and mention statistics

Talking to your customers helps you get qualitative information that you can use to alter your product or services according to your customers. The next part is to attain quantitative information, in other words, presenting numbers to support the previous data.

Conducting surveys is one of the commonly used methods for quantifying information. You can conduct in-app surveys, post-purchase surveys, or link surveys in email and apps, etc.

The second method is by collecting statistical data to support your conclusions from the interviews. These include stating studies related to customer choices, results from popular surveys, etc.

Step 3: Create a Customer Persona

Now, it’s time you present the information using a customer persona. A customer persona is a representation of a segment of customers with similar traits. Creating customer personas helps you process the data more efficiently.

You can use customer persona templates that are available online. To help get you started, we have created a customer persona example.

Customer Persona Example

Customer profile example of an internet service provider:

customer persona example

  • About: A lot of customers remain at home and have a minimal and easy-going lifestyle. They need high-speed, interruption-free internet access.
  • Demographics: Age is between 30 and 40, has a laid-back lifestyle, lives in suburban areas, and the income range is between $10,000 to $40,000.
  • Professional role: Shop owners, employees, freelancers, etc.
  • Identifiers/Personality traits: Introverts, like routines, makes schedules prefer online shopping, and stick with the companies they trust.
  • Goals: Wants easily available service, and 24×7 customer support, prefers self-service technologies and chatbots over interacting with representatives.
  • Challenges: Fluctuating internet connection while working or consuming media. Not enough signal coverage.

Step 4: Explain the product alignment to the Customer’s Needs

You’ve gathered info and created customer personas. The final step is to explain how your product or service caters to the needs of your customers. Here, you specify the solution you offer to your customers to tackle the challenges they face.

Mention the USPs of your product and its features, and they benefit the customer. Here, you also mention how your offerings make your customers’ lives better.

Create Better Solutions with Customer Analysis

Understanding your customers inside out helps you assist them better in solving their problems while also achieving success. Analyze your customers as often as required to stay updated about their ever-changing needs.

This helps you create better offerings to consistently fulfill their expectations. As a result, this builds up loyalty over time with each success.

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About the Author

business plan data analysis

Ayush is a writer with an academic background in business and marketing. Being a tech-enthusiast, he likes to keep a sharp eye on the latest tech gadgets and innovations. When he's not working, you can find him writing poetry, gaming, playing the ukulele, catching up with friends, and indulging in creative philosophies.

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Big Data Mining and Analytics Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business Plans » Technology Sector

Are you about starting a data mining & analytics business? If YES, here is a complete sample data mining & analytics business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE .

Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a data mining & analytics business. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample data mining & analytics marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for data mining & analytics businesses. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

Why Start a Big Data Mining & Analytics Business?

If you are a data enthusiast and you are looking for a research based consulting business to start, then one of your options is to start a data mining and analytics business.

As a data mining and analytics company, your responsibility is to develop software for data mining. Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from large data sets.

The truth is that this industry is highly profitable because every business would want to increase sales and make profit. Your level of profitability is dependent on your ability to come up with useful data that will help your clients experience growth in their business.

If you are sure this type of business is what you want to do after you must have conducted your feasibility studies and market research, then the next step to follow is to write a good business plan; a detailed blue print of how you intend raising your seed capital, setting up the business, managing the flow of the business, sorting out tax and marketing your products amongst others.

The truth is that it is one thing to have a fantastic idea cum business plan; it is entirely another thing for the business plan to translate to money (profits) that is why it is important to assemble a team of dedicated workers to work with if you want to be successful with your business.

Below is a sample data mining and analytics company business plan template that can help you to successfully write your own with little or no difficulty.

A Sample Big Data Mining & Analytics Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

The data mining and analytics industry is made up of organizations that systematically gather, record, tabulate and present relevant data for the purpose of finding anomalies, patterns and correlations within large data sets to predict outcomes.

With the aid of the right data, an organization can make use of a broad range of techniques to increase revenue, cut cost, improve customer relationship, and reduce risk amongst others.

The usefulness of data mining has increase in recent time. As a matter of fact, the recent explosion in large-scale high-resolution data enables managers to ask and answer questions regarding businesses and consumers at a whole new level. Business owners are faced with data about businesses and consumers that are growing faster than they can be utilized.

Data mining enables businesses to extract useful consumer behavior and preferences from seemingly tremendous and unorganized data, which then can be utilized for data-driven decision-making and Competitive Advantage. Data mining and analytics are useful in e-commerce, sales, marketing, finance, operations, education et al.

If you keep a close watch of happening in the data and analytics industry, you will notice that the industry has experienced slow growth over the past five years. As corporate profit began to rise, businesses emerged from their cost-conscious slump and began to develop new software and increase investment.

The Data Mining and Analytics industry is indeed a fast growing industry in Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, China, Japan, India and the united states of America.  IBM, HP, SAS and StatSoft are the leaders in this industry and they can boast of having the lion share of the available market in the United States.

Every year, HP conducts approximately 2.5 billion interactions via customer calls, website visits, emails and chat sessions, and has even more touchpoints through retail partners. The result is a 900TB data warehouse with 360 million customer records, growing by millions each month.

HP’s goal was clear: find meaningful value in all that data, and achieve a 360-degree view of its customers in order to be more responsive and competitive.

It is fact that data mining is a productive business strategy and with powerful data mining analytics, HP was able to accurately score more than 100 million customers in seconds to target its marketing and service efforts. As a result, HP has seen a 20 percent incremental ROI across campaigns.

Orders shipped have increased by 50 percent in three years, and the overall operating profit of the HPDirect.com store has increased by more than 50 percent. Over and above, a data mining and analytics company is one good business to start if you have the expertise and capacity to reach out to your target market and of course you know how to produce results for your clients.

2. Executive Summary

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is a licensed data mining and analytics company that will be located in the heart of New York City – New York. We have been able to acquire a standard office facility that is highly suitable for the kind of business we want to operate.

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is in the data mining and analytics industry to provide several services to clients in different sectors of the economy. We will develop products such as predictive analytics software, statistical analysis software and data mining software with the aim of finding anomalies, patterns and correlations within large data sets to predict outcomes.

We are geared towards helping our clients sift through all the chaotic and repetitive noise in their data, help them understand what is relevant and then make good use of that information to assess likely outcomes and also assist them in accelerating the pace of making informed decisions. We are well trained and equipped to service the market segments that require the services we will be offering.

We are in the data mining and analytics line of business to deliver excellent result oriented services to all those who will patronize our services.

We will also ensure that in the line of carrying out our duty, we comply with the laws and regulations governing businesses in New York City and the United States of America. Our employees are well trained and qualified to handle the wide range of marketing research services.

At Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc., our clients’ overall best interest would always come first, and everything we do is guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hire professional and certified data miners and analysts with various skills set who are well experienced and passionate in helping our clients achieve their business goals within record time.

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible.

We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our clients’ needs precisely and completely. Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is a family business that is owned and managed by Nelson Borough and his immediate family members. Nelson Borough is going to be the Chief Researcher of the organization.

He is a qualified and well trained Data Miner and Analyst with a Degree in Math and Statistics and with over 10 years’ experience working for some of the leading brands in the data mining and analytics industry in the United States of America.

3. Our Products and Services

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is in the data mining and analytics line of business to offer varieties of services within the scope of the data mining and analytics industry in the United States of America.

Our intention of starting our data mining and analytics company is to become one of the leading brands in the industry and of course to also make profits and we will do all that is permitted by the law in the US to achieve our aim and business goal.

These are the services that Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will be offering;

  • Develop predictive analytics software
  • Develop statistical analysis software
  • Develop data mining software
  • Use data to help our clients increase revenue, cut cost, improve customer relationship, reduce risk and more.
  • Other data mining and analytics related research services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

  • Our vision is to establish a standard data mining and analytics company whose services and brand will not only be accepted in the United States of America, but also in other parts of the world.
  • Our mission is to provide result oriented data mining and analytics services and other related services that will assist businesses, individuals and non-profit organizations in developing the models that can uncover connections within millions or billions of records.
  • We want to build a data mining and analytics company that can favorably compete with other leading brands in the data mining and analytics industry.

Our Business Structure

From the outset, we have decided to recruit only qualified professionals (data miners and analysts) to man various job positions in our organization. We are quite aware of the rules and regulations governing the data mining and analytics industry which is why we decided to recruit only qualified employees as foundation staff of the organization.

We hope to leverage on their expertise to build our brand. When hiring, we will look out for applicants that are not just qualified and experienced, but honest, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all the stakeholders.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of five years or more. In view of the above, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy the following positions;

  • Chief Executive Officer

Data Miner/Data Analyst

Software Developer

Office Administrator

  • Marketing Executives

Client Service Executive

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer:

  • Increases management’s effectiveness by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational opportunities.
  • Generates, interconnects, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
  • Accountable for fixing prices and signing business deals
  • Responsible for providing direction for the business
  • Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
  • Evaluates the success of the organization
  • Develops records, management processes and policies
  • Identifies areas to increase efficiency and automation of processes
  • Sets up and maintain automated data processes
  • Identifies, evaluates and implements external services and tools to support data validation and cleansing
  • Produces and tracks key performance indicators
  • Develops and supports reporting processes
  • Monitors and audits data quality
  • Liaises with internal and external clients to fully understand data content
  • Gathers, understands and documents detailed business requirements using appropriate tools and techniques
  • Designs and carries out surveys and analyze survey data
  • Prepares reports for internal and external audience using business analytics reporting tools
  • Creates data dashboards, graphs and visualizations
  • Provides sector and competitor benchmarking
  • Mines and analyzes large datasets, draw valid inferences and present them successfully to management using a reporting tool.
  • Responsible for developing predictive analytics software, statistical analysis software and data mining software et al
  • Keeps up with the latest software and happenings in the industry
  • Handles any other duty as assigned by the CEO
  • Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
  • Designs job descriptions with KPI to drive performance management for psychologists, social workers and marriage counselors
  • Regularly holds meetings with key stakeholders to review the effectiveness of the organizations’ Policies, Procedures and Processes
  • Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and expediting orders; evaluating new products.
  • Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive maintenance requirements; calling for repairs.
  • Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
  • Carries out staff induction for new team members
  • Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
  • Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
  • Oversees the smooth running of the daily activities for the organization.

Marketing Executive

  • Recognizes, arranges, and reaches out to new clients, and business opportunities et al
  • Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
  • Writes winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with organizations’ policy
  • Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and feasibility studies for clients
  • Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
  • Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding sales
  • Documents all customer contact and information
  • Helps to increase sales and growth for the organization
  • Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
  • Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
  • Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
  • Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
  • Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
  • Responsible for administering payrolls
  • Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
  • Handles all financial transactions for the organization
  • Serves as internal auditor for the organization.
  • Welcomes clients and visitors by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
  • Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
  • Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the company’s products and services
  • Manages administrative duties assigned by the principal partners in an effective and timely manner
  • Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the organizations’ services, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients when they make enquiries
  • Receives parcels/documents for the organization.

6. SWOT Analysis

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is set to become one of the leading data mining and analytics companies in New York City – New York which is why we are willing to take our time to cross every ‘Ts’ and dot every ‘Is’ as it relates to our business.

We know that if we are going to achieve the goals that we have set for our business, then we must ensure that we build our business on a solid foundation. We must ensure that we follow due process in setting up the business.

Even though our Chief Executive Officer has a robust experience in the data mining and analytics industry, we still went ahead to hire the services of business consultants that are specialized in setting up new businesses to help our organization conduct a detailed SWOT analysis.

This is the summary of the SWOT analysis that was conducted for Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc.;

Our core strength lies in the ability to quickly adopt new technology, access to skilled and flexible workforce and provision of relevant results. Also, we have a team of experts in the industry, a team with excellent qualifications and experience in data mining and analytics.

Aside from the synergy that exists in our carefully selected team members and our strong online presence, Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is well positioned in a business community with the right demography and we know we will attract loads of clients from the first day we open our doors for business.

As a new data mining and analytics company in New York, it might take some time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance especially from top profile clients in the fast – growing data mining and analytics industry; that is perhaps our major weakness.

  • Opportunities:

The opportunities that are available to data mining and analytics companies are unlimited considering the fact that the data mining and analytics industry is a dynamic industry. Every organization that has products and services to sell would always look for useful data and strategies that will help them reach out to their target market hence the need for the services of data mining and analytics companies.

Just like any other business, one of the major threats that we are likely going to face is economic downturn. It is a fact that economic downturn affects purchasing/spending power. Another threat that may likely confront us is the arrival of a data mining and analytics company in same location where our target market exists and who may want to adopt same Business model like us.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

  • Market Trends

The trends in the data mining and analytics industry shows that over the last decade, advances in processing power and speed have enabled us to move beyond manual, tedious and time-consuming practices to quick, easy and automated data analysis. The more complex the data sets collected, the more potential there is to uncover relevant insights.

Retailers, banks, manufacturers, telecommunications providers and insurers, among others, are using data mining to discover relationships among everything from pricing, promotions and demographics to how the economy, risk, competition and social media are affecting their business models, revenues, operations and customer relationships.

Also, the process of mining data to discover hidden connections and predict future trends has a long history. The term “data mining” wasn’t coined until the 1990s.

But its foundation comprises three intertwined scientific disciplines: statistics (the numeric study of data relationships), artificial intelligence (human-like intelligence displayed by software and/or machines) and machine learning (algorithms that can learn from data to make predictions).

What was old is new again, as data mining technology keeps evolving to keep pace with the limitless potential of big data and affordable computing power. Lastly, the data mining and analytics industry will continue to evolve due to the advancement of computer technology and software application designs.

8. Our Target Market

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is in business to service a wide range of customers in New York City and all across the United States of America. We will ensure that we target both private companies and government organizations.

The fact that we are going to open our doors to a wide range of customers does not in any way stop us from abiding by the rules and regulations governing the data mining and analytics industry in the United States.

In view of that, we have created strategies that will enable us reach out to various corporate organizations and individuals who we know can’t afford to do without our services. 

We have conducted our market research and survey and we will ensure that we meet and surpass the expectations of our clients. Below is a list of the people and organizations that we have specifically market our services to;

  • Banks, Insurance Companies and other related Financial Institutions
  • Blue Chips Companies
  • Corporate Organizations
  • Retail Companies
  • Manufacturers and Distributors
  • Real Estate Owners, Developers, and Contractors
  • Research and Development Companies
  • The Government (Public Sector)
  • Schools (High Schools, Colleges and Universities)
  • Sport Organizations
  • Religious Organizations
  • Political Parties
  • Television Stations
  • Printing Press (Publishing Houses) and Authors
  • Branding and Advertising agencies
  • Entrepreneurs and Startups

Our Competitive Advantage

We are aware that to be highly competitive in the data mining and analytics industry means that we should be able to develop models that can uncover connections within millions or billions of records; increase revenue, cut costs, improve customer relationships, reduce risks and more.

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is coming into the market well prepared to favorably compete in the industry. We will ensure our pricing policy is appropriate, plus the fact that we having a good reputation and also economies of scale.

Our staff are well groomed in all aspects of data mining and analytics and all our employees are trained to provide customized customer service to all our clients. Our services will be carried out by highly trained professionals who know what it takes to give our highly esteemed customers value for their money.

Lastly, all our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry. It will enable them to be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our business aims and objectives.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

  • Sources of Income

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will ensure that we do all we can to maximize the business by generating income from every legal means within the scope of our industry. Below are the sources we intend exploring to generate income for Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc.;

  • Use data to help our clients increase revenue, cut costs, improve customer relationships, reduce risks and more.

10. Sales Forecast

One thing is certain, there would always be organizations that would need the services of data mining and analytics companies to help them increase sales or generate more revenue.

We are well positioned to take on the available market in the data mining and analytics industry and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough profits from our first six months of operation and grow our data mining and analytics company to enviable heights.

We have been able to critically examine the data mining and analytics space, we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. Below is the sales projection for Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc.;  it is based on the location of our business and of course the wide range of our data mining and analytics services and target market;

  • First Year: $250,000
  • Second Year: $500,000
  • Third Year: $950,000

N.B : This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and there won’t be any major competitor offering same services as we do within same location. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.

  • Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

The marketing and sales strategy adopted by Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will be based on generating long-term personalized relationships with customers. In order to achieve that, we will ensure that we offer all – round data mining and analytics services at affordable prices compare to what is obtainable in and around New York City.

All our employees will be well trained and equipped to provide excellent and knowledgeable data mining and analytics services and customer service.

We know that if we are consistent with offering high quality and result oriented data mining and analytics, we will increase the number of our customers by more than 25 percent for the first year and then more than 40 percent subsequently.

Before choosing a location for our data mining and analytics company, we conducted a thorough market survey and feasibility studies in order for us to penetrate the available market and become the preferred choice for organizations in New York City – New York and of course in other cities all across the United States of America.

We have detailed information and data that we were able to utilize to structure our business to attract the number of customers we want to attract per time. In summary, Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will adopt the following sales and marketing approach to win customers over;

  • Introduce our data mining and analytics company by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to school, corporate organizations, and other key stake holders all across the United States of America.
  • Promptness in bidding for data mining and analytics contracts from the government and other cooperate organizations.
  • Advertise our business in relevant business magazines, newspapers, TV and radio stations.
  • List our business on yellow pages’ ads (local directories).
  • Attend relevant international and local expos, seminars, and business fairs et al
  • Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets and still deliver excellent and result oriented data mining and analytics services.
  • Leverage on the internet to promote our business.
  • Engage direct marketing approach.
  • Encourage word of mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied clients.

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We are in the data mining and analytics business to become one of the market leaders and also to maximize profit, hence we are going to explore all available means to promote our company.

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. has a long – term plan of working for clients all across the United States and other parts of the world which is why we will deliberately build our brand to be well accepted in New York City before venturing out.

As a matter of fact, our publicity and advertising strategy is not solely for winning customers over but to effectively communicate our brand to the general public. Here are the platforms we intend leveraging on to promote and advertise Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc.;

  • Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
  • Sponsor relevant community research programs
  • Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
  • Install our billboards in strategic locations all around New York City – New York
  • Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
  • Ensure that all our workers wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are branded with our company’s logo

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Generally, data mining and analytics services are billed on the results produced and flat fees on a weekly or monthly basis as it applies. As a result of this, Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will charge our clients flat fees except for few occasions where there will be need for us to charge special clients on hourly basis.

At Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. we will keep our fees below the average market rate by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance. In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to all our clients at regular intervals.

  • Payment Options

The payment policy adopted by Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulation of the United States of America.

Here are the payment options that Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will make available to her clients;

  • Payment via bank transfer
  • Payment with cash
  • Payment via credit cards
  • Payment via online bank transfer
  • Payment via check
  • Payment via mobile money transfer
  • Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for our services without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

If you are looking towards starting a data mining and analytics company, then you should be ready to ensure that you raise enough capital to cover some of the basic expenditure that you are going to incur.

You would need money to secure a standard facility, acquire relevant software apps, pay your workforce and pay bills for a while until the revenue you generate from the business becomes enough to pay them. The items listed below are the basics that we would need when starting our data mining and analytics company in the United States.

  • The total fee for registering the Business in the United States – $750.
  • Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – $1,500.
  • Marketing promotion expenses for the grand opening of Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. in the amount of $3,500 and as well as flyer printing (2,000 flyers at $0.04 per copy) for the total amount of – $3,580.
  • Cost for hiring Business Consultant – $2,500.
  • Cost for computer software (Accounting Software, Payroll Software, CRM Software, Microsoft Office, and QuickBooks Pro et al) – $7,000
  • Insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium – $3,400.
  • Cost for payment of rent for 12 months at $1.76 per square feet in the total amount of – $105,600.
  • Cost for facility remodeling (construction of racks and shelves) – $20,000.
  • Other start-up expenses including stationery ( $500 ) and phone and utility deposits – ( $2,500 ).
  • Operational cost for the first 3 months (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $500,000
  • The cost for the purchase of furniture and gadgets (Computers, Printers, Telephone, TVs, tables and chairs et al) – $4,000.
  • The cost of launching a website – $700
  • Miscellaneous – $10,000

We would need an estimate of two hundred thousand dollars ( $200,000 ) to successfully set up our data mining and analytics business in New York City – New York.

Generating Startup Capital for Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc.

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is a family business that will be owned and managed by Nelson Borough and his immediate family members.

They are the financiers of the business, but may likely welcome partners later which is why they decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital for the business to just three major sources. These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;

  • Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings
  • Source for soft loans from family members and friends
  • Apply for loan from the Bank

N.B: We have been able to generate about $50,000 ( Personal savings $30,000 and soft loan from family members $20,000 ) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $150,000 from our bank. All the papers and documents have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

The future of a business lies in the number of loyal customers that they have, the capacity and competence of the employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business, then it won’t be too long before the business close shop.

One of our major goals of starting Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without the need for injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running.

We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over is to offer our data mining and analytics services work a little bit cheaper than what is obtainable in the market and we are well prepared to survive on lower profit margin for a while.

Binary Solutions® Data Mining & Analytics Company, Inc. will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of.

Our organizations’ corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner. As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of three years or more.

We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.

Check List/Milestone

  • Business Name Availability Check: Completed
  • Business Registration: Completed
  • Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
  • Securing Point of Sales (POS) Machines: Completed
  • Opening Mobile Money Accounts: Completed
  • Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
  • Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
  • Application for business license and permit: Completed
  • Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
  • Leasing of facility and remodeling the facility: In Progress
  • Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
  • Generating capital from family members: Completed
  • Applications for loan from the bank: In Progress
  • Writing of Business Plan: Completed
  • Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
  • Drafting of Contract Documents and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
  • Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
  • Printing of Promotional Materials: In Progress
  • Recruitment of employees: In Progress
  • Purchase of the needed furniture, racks, shelves, computers, electronic appliances, office appliances and CCTV: In progress
  • Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
  • Creating Awareness for the business both online and around the community: In Progress
  • Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
  • Launching party planning: In Progress
  • Compilation of our list of data mining and analytics services areas that will be our strong emphasis: Completed
  • Establishing business relationship with corporate organizations, NGOs and other key stakeholders in the United States of America: In Progress.

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Sample Big Data And Analytics Business Plan

Here is a big data analytics business plan .

Information technology is seeing massive growth with growing specializations as well as opportunities for entrepreneurs . One of such areas is big data and analytics. There’s a lot you can do as a specialist in this area.

BIG DATA AND ANALYTICS BUSINESS PLAN PDF SAMPLE

Setting up your operations requires that you put in the work necessary. Part of the preparations includes having a plan. A Big data and analytics business plan enables you to set priorities as well as maintain strategic focus.

Other benefits include being better equipped to manage change, developing accountability, managing your finances, and setting milestones among others.

Given all the benefits derived, we’re interested in helping you get started. Writing a good business plan for your big data and analytics business should be the focus.

The following are sections to include and what they should contain.

i. Executive Summary

This is one of the most important parts of your big data and analytics business plan.

It’s meant to give your reader an overview of what your business is about. This condensed document is a representation of the entire business plan, hence it’s a few pages.

In writing the executive summary section, you should seek to hold the attention of the reader.

Most times, the readers are investors seeking to find if your business idea is viable or not. No matter how good your bid data analytics business idea is, it will hardly fly if investors are unimpressed.

Your opening statements will also determine if investors proceed to read the plan or not. Consider your executive summary section as your elevator pitch. Now, what should this section contain?

A good executive summary should have relevant content that highlights the business opportunity. Other details include the target market, a business model, marketing, or sales strategy as well as competition.

More information includes the financial analysis, the business owners as well as managerial staff in addition to an implementation plan. Mentioning these salient points in passing won’t help much.

Let’s add some flesh to it as follows;

Business Opportunity

Your big data and analytics business idea will need to be clearly stated.

Every business is about finding solutions to problems. As such, your demand must be identified as well as stating clearly how you intend to meet such demands or provide solutions to them.

Target Market

Big data and analytics is a niche area in information technology that meets the needs of a specific target market.

These will form your customer base. Such a target market or demographic should be pointed out in this section.

Business Model

As a service-based industry, information communications technology meets a wide array of needs. Therefore, you should figure out the range of services and products you wish to offer the market.

Marketing or Sales Strategy

For businesses to grow, a lot of branding is necessary.

Your big data and analytics business will need the adoption of effective branding methods to help achieve brand recognition. Clearly state these strategies here.

Competition

You won’t be the first or last starting or running a big data and analytics business operation.

There are lots of competitors in this sector. You’ll need to identify all such businesses you’ll compete with for market share. This is where your edge comes into play. What do you intend to offer that they don’t?

Financial Analysis

There must be a deliberate plan to manage resources (finances). Under this section, you should be able to clearly state your projected revenue covering the first three years of operations.

Business Owners/Managerial Staff

Every business has owners as well as top managerial staff.

Clearly provide all such major stakeholders within your big data and analytics business.

Implementation Plan

There should be a time-frame within which to float your operations from its concept stage to full operations.

ii. Company Description

The objective of this section is to state your goals as well as identify how you intend to operate.

More importantly, it should include details about your preferred legal structure and its history. Your big data and analytics business should have an overview of products and services as well as business growth.

Even before commencing operations, there should be short and long-term goals. Profitability is very important as it interests investors. Therefore, provide information on how you intend to turn a profit.

iii. Products and Services

What service(s) or product(s) does your big data and analytics business sell? To write this section, include a careful description of your services and products with an emphasis on benefits to customers. You’ll need to also include the advantages of such services over those of competitors.

iv. Market Analysis

Under this section of your big data and analytics plan should be details such as a sketch of targeted customer segments, industry outlook, and description plus statistics, current, historical, and projected data. It should also include a careful analysis of your competitors.

v. Strategy and Implementation

Every sound strategy needs to be implemented to take full effect.

Therefore, this section of your big data and analytics business plan should include all the sales strategies and how you intend to implement them.

It should start by explaining how your business will be advertised.

Details such as cost, promotions, pricing as well as distribution are key components that shouldn’t be left out. How will your operations be handled? Labor sources as well as the number of employees must also be added.

vi. Organization and Management Team

This section of your big data and analytics business plan seeks to identify the key players in your company.

In other words, it provides details about the organizational structure. Include an organizational chart of top-level management staff and departments.

You should also include board members, advisors, attorneys, and owner(s) information.

vii. Financial Plan & Projections

This section of your big data and analytics plan is as important as the rest.

Financial plans and projections should include historical financial data, achievable prospective financial data, and an analysis of financial information. You’ll need the help of a financial expert to write or put this section together.

Your big data and analytics business needs a solid plan. This helps with efficient operations.

This article has been about guiding you through the process. We’ve touched on key areas you’ll need to pay attention to as well as the information to add. We’re confident that this will give you the help you need.

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Reddit files to list IPO on NYSE under the ticker RDDT

  • Reddit on Thursday filed to go public.
  • Its market debut will mark the first major tech initial public offering of the year and the first social media IPO since Pinterest went public in 2019.
  • The social media company, founded in 2005 by technology entrepreneurs Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, has raised about $1.3 billion in funding and has a post valuation of $10 billion, according to deal-tracking service PitchBook.

Social media company Reddit filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday after a yearslong run-up . The company plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "RDDT."

Its market debut, expected in March, will be the first major tech initial public offering of the year. It's the first social media IPO since Pinterest went public in 2019 .

Reddit said it had $804 million in annual sales for 2023, up 20% from the $666.7 million it brought in the previous year, according to the filing. The social networking company's core business is reliant on online advertising sales stemming from its website and mobile app.

The company, founded in 2005 by technology entrepreneurs Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, said it has incurred net losses since its inception. It reported a net loss of $90.8 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, compared with a net loss of $158.6 million the year prior.

Reddit is one of the most-visited websites in the U.S., according to analytics firm Semrush, but it has struggled to build an online advertising business comparable to those of tech giants such as Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet .

Reddit has more than 100,000 communities, 73 million average daily active uniques, or DAUq, and 267 million average weekly active uniques, according to the filing. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, Reddit's U.S. average revenue per user, or ARPU, was $5.51, down from $5.92 from the previous year. The company's global ARPU was $3.42, which was a 2% year-over-year decline from $3.49.

Reddit said that by 2027 it estimates the "total addressable market globally from advertising, excluding China and Russia, to be $1.4 trillion." Reddit said the current addressable advertising market is $1.0 trillion, sans China and Russia.

The company is building on its search capabilities and plans to "more fully address the $750 billion opportunity in search advertising that S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates the market to be in 2027."

Reddit said it plans to use artificial intelligence to improve its ad business and that it expects to open new revenue channels by offering tools and incentives to "drive continued creation, improvements, and commerce." It's also in the early stages of developing and monetizing a data-licensing business in which third parties would be allowed to access and search data on its platform.

For example, Google  on  Thursday announced an expanded partnership with Reddit that will give the search giant access to the company's data to, among other uses, train its AI models.

In June, several prominent Reddit moderators locked subreddits as part of a blackout to protest the company's decision to increase the price some third-party developers pay to use its application programming interface, or API, depending on their usage. At the time, Reddit said the pricing change was necessary because many big tech companies were using data to train large language models.

"In January 2024, we entered into certain data licensing arrangements with an aggregate contract value of $203.0 million and terms ranging from two to three years," Reddit said, regarding its data-licensing business. "We expect a minimum of $66.4 million of revenue to be recognized during the year ending December 31, 2024 and the remaining thereafter."

Reddit appears to be investigating a business strategy akin to that of Roblox , which  derives  the bulk of its revenue from digital sales on its social gaming platform, and online retailer eBay. The company wants to introduce more features to create a user economy that could include games, according to the filing. Reddit said there are currently informal exchanges of physical and digital goods and services that may create another line of revenue.

Reddit will offer three classes of stock with different voting shares. Class A stock will come with one vote per share. Class B shares will come with 10 votes per share and can be converted at any time into one share of Class A stock. Class C shares have no voting rights.

Reddit said that its non-employed moderators, known as Redditors, can participate in the company's IPO offering through its "directed share program." Because of this, Reddit said there's a possibility of "individual investors, retail or otherwise constituting a larger proportion of the investors participating in this offering than is typical for an initial public offering." Reddit said it had an average of more than 60,000 daily active moderators in December 2023.

"These factors could cause volatility in the market price of our Class A common stock," the company warned.

Regarding risks, Reddit said its daily active unique figures "may fluctuate or decrease in one or more markets from time to time due to various factors."

"For example, although we saw increased growth in our user base during the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced lower levels of DAUq growth and declining DAUq as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic subsided," the filing said. "DAUq has also declined in the past in periods following usage peaks surrounding certain worldwide events, such as the onset of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the three months ended March 31, 2022, and cultural trends, including video game releases, such as Elden Ring in the three months ended March 31, 2022, and traffic related to r/wallstreetbets in the three months ended March 31, 2021."

Reddit first filed a confidential draft of its public offering prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2021. The company has an employee headcount of 2,013 as of December 31, 2023, which was up from 1,942 during the previous year.

Reddit has raised about $1.3 billion in funding and has a post valuation of $10 billion, according to deal-tracking service PitchBook. Publishing giant Condé Nast bought Reddit in 2006. Reddit spun out of Conde Nast's parent company, Advance Magazine Publishers, in 2011.

Advance now owns 34% of voting power. Other notable shareholders include Tencent and Sam Altman , CEO of startup OpenAI.

Watch : Reddit is a litmus test for investor appetite for non-AI things .

Reddit is a litmus test for investor appetite for non-AI things, says FirstMark's Heitzmann

Artificial Intelligence Computing Leadership from NVIDIA

Press Release Details

Nvidia announces financial results for fourth quarter and fiscal 2024.

  • Record quarterly revenue of $22.1 billion, up 22% from Q3, up 265% from year ago 
  • Record quarterly Data Center revenue of $18.4 billion, up 27% from Q3, up 409% from year ago
  • Record full-year revenue of $60.9 billion, up 126%

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported revenue for the fourth quarter ended January 28, 2024, of $22.1 billion, up 22% from the previous quarter and up 265% from a year ago.

For the quarter, GAAP earnings per diluted share was $4.93, up 33% from the previous quarter and up 765% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was $5.16, up 28% from the previous quarter and up 486% from a year ago.

For fiscal 2024, revenue was up 126% to $60.9 billion. GAAP earnings per diluted share was $11.93, up 586% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was $12.96, up 288% from a year ago.

“Accelerated computing and generative AI have hit the tipping point. Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.

“Our Data Center platform is powered by increasingly diverse drivers — demand for data processing, training and inference from large cloud-service providers and GPU-specialized ones, as well as from enterprise software and consumer internet companies. Vertical industries — led by auto, financial services and healthcare — are now at a multibillion-dollar level.

“NVIDIA RTX, introduced less than six years ago, is now a massive PC platform for generative AI, enjoyed by 100 million gamers and creators. The year ahead will bring major new product cycles with exceptional innovations to help propel our industry forward. Come join us at next month’s GTC, where we and our rich ecosystem will reveal the exciting future ahead,” he said.

NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.04 per share on March 27, 2024, to all shareholders of record on March 6, 2024.

Q4 Fiscal 2024 Summary

Fiscal 2024 Summary

Outlook NVIDIA’s outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 is as follows:

  • Revenue is expected to be $24.0 billion, plus or minus 2%.
  • GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 76.3% and 77.0%, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points.
  • GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $3.5 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively.
  • GAAP and non-GAAP other income and expense are expected to be an income of approximately $250 million, excluding gains and losses from non-affiliated investments.
  • GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates are expected to be 17.0%, plus or minus 1%, excluding any discrete items.

NVIDIA achieved progress since its previous earnings announcement in these areas: 

Data Center

  • Fourth-quarter revenue was a record $18.4 billion, up 27% from the previous quarter and up 409% from a year ago. Full-year revenue rose 217% to a record $47.5 billion.
  • Launched, in collaboration with Google, optimizations across NVIDIA’s data center and PC AI platforms for Gemma , Google’s groundbreaking open language models.
  • Expanded its strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services to host NVIDIA ® DGX™ Cloud on AWS.
  • Announced that Amgen will use the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD ™ to power insights into drug discovery, diagnostics and precision medicine.
  • Announced  NVIDIA NeMo™ Retriever , a generative AI microservice that lets enterprises connect custom large language models with enterprise data to deliver highly accurate responses for AI applications. 
  • Introduced NVIDIA MONAI™ cloud APIs to help developers and platform providers integrate AI into their medical-imaging offerings. 
  • Announced that Singtel will bring generative AI services to Singapore through energy-efficient data centers that the telco is building with NVIDIA Hopper™ architecture GPUs.
  • Introduced plans with Cisco to help enterprises quickly and easily deploy and manage secure AI infrastructure.
  • Supported the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot program , a major step by the U.S. government toward a shared national research infrastructure.
  • Fourth-quarter revenue was $2.9 billion, flat from the previous quarter and up 56% from a year ago. Full-year revenue rose 15% to $10.4 billion.
  • Launched GeForce RTX™ 40 SUPER Series GPUs , starting at $599, which support the latest NVIDIA RTX™ technologies, including DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction and NVIDIA Reflex.
  • Announced generative AI capabilities for its installed base of over 100 million RTX AI PCs, including Tensor-RT™ LLM to accelerate inference on large language models, and Chat with RTX, a tech demo that lets users personalize a chatbot with their own content.
  • Introduced microservices for the NVIDIA Avatar Cloud Engine , allowing game and application developers to integrate state-of-the-art generative AI models into non-playable characters.
  • Reached the milestone of 500 AI-powered RTX games and applications utilizing NVIDIA DLSS, ray tracing and other NVIDIA RTX technologies.

Professional Visualization

  • Fourth-quarter revenue was $463 million, up 11% from the previous quarter and up 105% from a year ago. Full-year revenue rose 1% to $1.6 billion.
  • Announced adoption of NVIDIA Omniverse ™ by the global automotive-configurator ecosystem.
  • Announced the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation GPU , bringing the latest AI, graphics and compute technology to compact workstations.
  • Fourth-quarter revenue was $281 million, up 8% from the previous quarter and down 4% from a year ago. Full-year revenue rose 21% to $1.1 billion.
  • Announced further adoption of its NVIDIA DRIVE ® platform , with Great Wall Motors, ZEEKR and Xiaomi using DRIVE Orin™ to power intelligent automated-driving systems and Li Auto selecting DRIVE Thor™ as its centralized car computer.

CFO Commentary Commentary on the quarter by Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, is available at https://investor.nvidia.com .

Conference Call and Webcast Information NVIDIA will conduct a conference call with analysts and investors to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal 2024 financial results and current financial prospects today at 2 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. Eastern time). A live webcast (listen-only mode) of the conference call will be accessible at NVIDIA’s investor relations website, https://investor.nvidia.com . The webcast will be recorded and available for replay until NVIDIA’s conference call to discuss its financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2025.

Non-GAAP Measures To supplement NVIDIA’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP, the company uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP other income (expense), net, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income, or earnings, per diluted share, and free cash flow. For NVIDIA’s investors to be better able to compare its current results with those of previous periods, the company has shown a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. These reconciliations adjust the related GAAP financial measures to exclude acquisition termination costs, stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related and other costs, IP-related costs, other, gains and losses from non-affiliated investments, interest expense related to amortization of debt discount, and the associated tax impact of these items where applicable. Free cash flow is calculated as GAAP net cash provided by operating activities less both purchases related to property and equipment and intangible assets and principal payments on property and equipment and intangible assets. NVIDIA believes the presentation of its non-GAAP financial measures enhances the user’s overall understanding of the company’s historical financial performance. The presentation of the company’s non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the company’s financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and the company’s non-GAAP measures may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies.

About NVIDIA Since its founding in 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been a pioneer in accelerated computing. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined computer graphics, ignited the era of modern AI and is fueling industrial digitalization across markets. NVIDIA is now a full-stack computing infrastructure company with data-center-scale offerings that are reshaping industry. More information at https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/ .

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: demand for accelerated computing and generative AI surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations; our Data Center platform being powered by increasingly diverse drivers, including demand for data processing, training and inference from large cloud-service providers and GPU-specialized ones, as well as from enterprise software and consumer internet companies; vertical industries led by auto, financial, services and healthcare now at a multibillion-dollar level; NVIDIA RTX becoming a massive PC platform for generative AI enjoyed by 100 million gamers and creators; the year ahead bringing major new product cycles with exceptional innovations to help propel our industry forward; our upcoming conference at GTC, where we and our rich ecosystem will reveal the exciting future ahead; NVIDIA’s next quarterly cash dividend; NVIDIA’s financial outlook and expected tax rates for the first quarter of fiscal 2025; the benefits, impact, performance, features and availability of NVIDIA’s products and technologies, including NVIDIA AI platforms, NVIDIA DGX Cloud, NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, NVIDIA NeMo Retriever, NVIDIA MONAI cloud APIs, NVIDIA Hopper architecture GPUs, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series GPUs, NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, NVIDIA Reflex, NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM, Chat with RTX, microservices for the NVIDIA Avatar Cloud Engine, NVIDIA DLSS, ray tracing and other NVIDIA RTX technologies, NVIDIA Omniverse, NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation GPU, NVIDIA DRIVE platform, NVIDIA DRIVE Orin and NVIDIA DRIVE Thor; and our collaborations with third parties are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners’ products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; and unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems, as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2024 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, GeForce RTX, NVIDIA DGX, NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, NVIDIA DRIVE, NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, NVIDIA DRIVE Thor, NVIDIA Hopper, NVIDIA MONAI, NVIDIA NeMo, NVIDIA Omniverse, NVIDIA RTX and TensorRT are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/38343cb8-8bc8-42b0-aa76-e3d280ae5507

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  1. Type of business plan discussion🔥| How to Start New business in 2024@RupaOdiaKahani

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    Record quarterly revenue of $22.1 billion, up 22% from Q3, up 265% from year ago Record quarterly Data Center revenue of $18.4 billion, up 27% from Q3, up 409% from year ago Record full-year revenue of $60.9 billion, up 126% SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported revenue for the fourth quarter ended January 28, 2024, of $22.1 billion, up 22% ...