- Project Implementation Guide
Project Background Definition and Writing Tips
by Eric Morkovich · July 14, 2011
The background is one of the key characteristics of a project to explain why to initiate the project, what prerequisites are, and what results are supposed to be obtained at the successful implementation .
The background of a project is very important, especially when the project is being done for the first time and there is no previous experience to draw upon. This article gives an insight into the importance of a good project background and what should be included in it.
What is Project Background?
Creating a clear and unambiguous background for a project is one of the most important actions to be taken at the very beginning to ensure the success of the project at the end. The clearer the background is, the more accurately and understandably the project will be spelled out. Below I give a definition of the project background.
A Project’s Background is a formal project management document containing a common description of what is expected to be done within the project, what prerequisites for the project are, and how to produce the expected amount of work. This document is created prior to the project implementation process to make a foundation for further goal setting and planning.
When you develop a background document for your project initiative, you need to regard the following information:
- Primary focus (what is to be addressed by the project)
- A list of prerequisites and key reasons for the launch
- A very common description of how to perform the project
- A plain explanation of the desired outcome
Designing a background document for a project is usually the duty of the project manager. This person considers the information to create a comprehensive background. Along with the document, the manager needs to develop a description specifying more information about the project, as compared to the background document.
Project Background vs. Project Description
Sometimes people are confused when using both terms. Someone thinks that there’s no difference between the terms, so they tend to regard the project background as the project description and vice versa. I want you to use only the right terminology within your projects, so I’d like to note that the terms are not the same. They have a difference in meaning and purpose. Here’s what I think on this point.
- A background of a project is just a simple and short statement of the project, meaning why we need to initiate it and what problems and needs will be addressed once it’s been implemented successfully. We do not say anything about objectives, resources to be allocated, methods to be used, and any other, more accurate information. The purpose of the background is to give an overview of the project for deciding on the need to do the project and for initiating the planning process. When you write a background for your project, your primary focus should be placed on giving a general idea and explaining the key prerequisites. This will let your potential investors (sponsors) get the “initial impression” about the project.
- A description of a project is a narrative containing a more detailed explanation of the project’s goals and objectives, the definition of the business needs and problems to be addressed, potentials pitfalls and challenges, implementation methods and approaches to be applied, people and organizations interested in and/or impacted by the project. The purpose of the description is to create a foundation for further development and implementation of the project. When you develop a description, you should use accurate and specific information to explain the objectives, desired outcomes, and implementation methods of your future project.
How to Write a Project’s Background
A good background document should meet the above-mentioned basic information, so you should include the following essentials in it:
1) A short and comprehensive description of what work needs to be done
You need to explain the objectives, problems, and needs that will be addressed by the project. It’s a common practice to define the major deliverables of the project and the reason for initiating it. You should also specify the stakeholders and their roles in the project delivery process.
2) A list of prerequisites and their importance
Prerequisites are the conditions that you need to achieve before implementing our project. You might need to complete some studies, define the scope or deliverables, or solve some technical difficulties.
Here you need to specify these prerequisites and give an idea of their importance. You should also provide a brief explanation of what each prerequisite means and does in relation to the main aim.
3) An overview of how to perform the project
You need to briefly explain how the project will be performed, what resources will be used to complete the work, and what methods will be applied. You don’t need to go into much detail here.
Your description should be brief and to the point. Specify that a project is going to be done (its design and implementation stages) in a specific time frame and what actions will be taken during each stage.
4) A list of the main results
Results are the direct gains you will receive from doing the project. You should include these results in your description because they are very important for further management and decision-making.
The main results ( deliverables ) can be both tangible and intangible. Tangible results include the launch of a new product, merchandising platform or service, etc. On the other hand, the intangible results can be improved a company’s performance indicators such as cash flow, profitability, etc.
5) A short description of the project’s impact
You need to explain the direct and indirect effects of the project. In this section, you should include what your project is going to do to improve the company’s performance, both financial and non-financial.
For example, it can be a good idea to include information on which segments or customer groups will be helped by the new product. You should also explain how your project is going to affect other companies and how it will affect the economy in general.
Wrapping Up
The background document is the first step to getting the project going. The project background should meet the basic information, like the “what and why” of the project. We need to describe the immediate and long-term goals, organization, and leadership team, plus decide on prerequisites and methods used. The background should be brief and concise, but it should provide enough information to make a future decision on whether to do the project or not.
The project description assumes that we have decided to initiate the project. In this case, it should include all the relevant information about what exactly will be done and how to manage the work, potential risks and challenges, resources, methods and approach to be used, schedule of implementation, and budget estimation.
Tags: planning
Eric Morkovich
Eric is an enthusiastic project manager who has worked on various projects in the software industry for over ten years. He took on a variety of roles and responsibilities for projects and teams. Today Eric helps product companies review and improve their software definition, development, and implementation processes. Follow Eric on Twitter .
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How To Write the Company Background Part of a Business Plan
Tell the story of your company's background.
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What To Include
Be creative, company background examples.
A crucial part of any business plan is spelling out your company history and telling your origin story to show potential teammates and investors how you landed on your business idea and why you are uniquely qualified to pursue it.
Sharing your business background goes far beyond simply telling a clever story of how you triumphed over adversity to launch your new business. What investors will care about is how your personal history, work experience, skills, strengths, and education will help you succeed in the business.
The background portion shows what you've already done to start executing and bringing your idea to life. Potential investors want to know you'll be able to return their investment with dividends in the years to come, and the background section can help.
Key Takeaways
- Company backgrounds share a bit about the market opportunity you are pursuing (and why you're pursuing it).
- Company backgrounds can be brief for new companies, while established corporations will have more developed backgrounds.
- Company backgrounds can be more creative than other parts of your business plan that need to include industry jargon or marketing buzzwords.
The company background should include a brief history of the company. Your company background could be very brief at the beginning stages of starting up, but you can still detail what you want your company to be about and the origin of your idea. Focus instead on your personal history and the journey that led you to start your business in the first place.
In a traditional business plan, your company background (also called the "company description") follows the executive summary.
Sharing the origin of the idea is valuable because it shows how you think and how you were able to take an idea, craft it into something more detailed, and ultimately build a business out of it. Detailing your progress to date, including any relevant key milestones, is an important part of this, as is listing the problems you’ve faced so far (and how you've overcome them).
Describe the market opportunity you're pursuing and why. A business plan to open a pizza parlor is not particularly creative or original, but if your idea is built around a specific market that is not being tapped, you need to emphasize this and discuss your short-term plans for growth and for reaching that market.
Key topics to include are:
- Any existing experience or relationships with customers
- The market you plan to cater to
- Your educational background
- Other companies you’ve worked for and the roles you've held in those businesses
- Previous businesses you’ve started and their outcomes/current status
- Your technical skills
- Your areas of expertise in your industry segment
- Your areas of weakness or inexperience and how you plan to compensate for them
- Any relevant professional clubs or associations you belong to
Company backgrounds don't need to include technical details about your business structure, finances, or other information along those lines. That information will go elsewhere in the business plan.
Tell your story in a way that's more engaging than just another page that leans on industry jargon, buzzwords, and trite platitudes.
To illustrate your company's history, use images that show how you started. For example, you could highlight charts and graphs to draw attention to key milestones or incorporate customer testimonials or excerpts from news stories that featured you or your business. Take it a step further toward building connections with the people reading your company history by showing vulnerability and sharing some of your past failures (and the lessons you learned from them).
Remember to be concise and stick to just one or two creative approaches that best highlight your particular approach to business and your specific history. This section should be brief.
Here are some company background examples from familiar names.
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories.
Our company's purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. Our portfolio of brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, and other sparkling soft drinks. Our hydration, sports, coffee, and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak, Ayataka, and BodyArmor. Our nutrition, juice, dairy, and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife, and AdeS.
We're constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people's lives, communities, and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices, and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide.
The Home Depot
When The Home Depot was founded in 1978, Bernie Marcus ad Arthur Blank had no idea how revolutionary this new "hardware store" would be for home improvement and the retail industry. Today, we're proud to be the world's largest home improvement retailer. In 2,300 stores across North America, we aspire to excel in service—to our customers, associates, communities, and shareholders. That's what leadership means to us. That's The Home Depot difference.
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Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship. " Business Plan Outline ."
Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."
The Coca-Cola Company. " About the Coca-Cola Company: Overview ."
The Home Depot. " Our Story ."
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How to Write a Company Overview for a Business Plan
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When you start a company, you ideally want it to grow. If you’re seeking business funding to scale your business or an initial investment to get your business off the ground, you’re going to need a business plan . Putting together a business plan can be an intimidating process that involves a lot of steps and writing — but breaking it down piece by piece can help you accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task.
One small piece of your business plan is the company overview, so let’s take a look at what that is, exactly, check out some company overview examples and go over how to make a company overview of your very own.
What is a company overview?
A company overview provides the reader of your business plan with basic background information about your company so they have an understanding of what you do, who the management team is and what customers your business serves.
The company description is the second piece of a business plan, falling right after the executive summary. Similar to the executive summary, your company overview will be short and succinct. Your reader needs to have a grasp on what your business does and who your customers are, even if they have limited time.
Why do I need a company overview?
The company overview is the part of your business plan that gives the basics and background of your business. It’s the foundation on which you will build the rest of your business plan.
If you’re looking to appeal to investors or potential clients, you need a reader to make an informed decision about your company. Before they can do that, they must know what your company does and who your customer is. Lenders in particular need a reason to keep reading, since they see tons of business plans regularly. The company overview provides those answers, and it will help you get a better sense of your business so you can firm up things like your marketing plan.
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What should i include in a company overview.
The exact elements that you need in your company overview will depend upon what details of your business are important, but there are some foundational elements that will be included in every company overview.
Once you’ve covered the basics, you can include any other minor details that will benefit a reader who will need to make an informed decision about your business.
Basic company information
Consider the company overview like an introduction for your business. In the opening paragraph of your company overview, you’ll want to include basic company information. That includes:
Your company name: This should be the official name of your business, exactly as it is written when you registered your business with the state.
Business structure: Your reader will want to know what business entity your company comes in: sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership or corporation.
Location(s): Share where your business is headquartered and other locations the business owns.
Ownership and management team
Break down who owns your business and how each owner is involved with the business. What shares of the company belong to whom? If you have a highly involved management team, share their names and key roles with the company as well.
Company history
Part of what makes your company unique is its history. And, even startups have some history. Don’t put too much focus on this section, but do add some personality and interesting details if possible, especially if they relate to your company culture.
Mission statement
Your company’s mission statement should be included in the company overview. If you don’t yet have a company mission statement, that’s okay. Think of a mission statement as the purpose of your company.
If you don’t have one, you can create one with your team. Or you can simply replace the mission statement with a problem statement. Your business idea should exist to solve a problem or pain point faced by your customers. Share what that problem is and what your business does to solve it. That’s essentially your mission statement.
Product/service and customer
This section of the company overview is where you can share the nitty-gritty details of your business. Talk about what product or service you provide and to whom you provide it. You can share some numbers here, but in general, save the numbers for later in your business plan.
The company overview should give the reader a general understanding of your business, your product or service, and your customer. If they’re interested to know more, they’ll reach out to you for a meeting or take the time to read the rest of your business plan. Keep it simple and straightforward here.
Future goals
While concrete details and facts about your business are important to whoever is reading your company overview, it’s also important to share your dreams and your vision. If you’re writing a business plan for a business that’s already in place, it’s very likely you’re looking for business financing to scale or solve a business problem. If you’re just starting out, though, then it’s likely you’re hoping to find startup funding.
The section on your future business goals should include a brief description of your growth goals for your business. Where you are now tells the reader a lot, but they also want to know where you plan to go.
A company overview is comprised of many small parts. Each part shares just a little bit more about your company with your reader.
Tips for writing a company overview
While a company overview is simply the details of your company written out, it might not be easy to write. Break it down into small steps and use these tips to make putting together your company overview just a little bit easier.
Start with the elevator pitch
If your business is already in operation, then you likely have an elevator pitch. Your company overview can start off with your elevator pitch.
The first paragraph of your company overview should include just a few sentences that explain your business and what you do. The shorter and clearer this is, the more likely your reader will understand and keep reading.
Stick to the basics
It’s tempting to pile on all the details when you’re writing a company overview. Remember, many of the details of your company, including the numbers, will be included in later sections of your business plan.
Your company overview should include only the most basic details about your company that the reader needs to know.
Be passionate
When you share the history, mission statement, and vision for the future of your company, it’s okay to show your passion. You wouldn’t be in business if you didn’t love what you do.
Your excitement for your business could spark interest for the reader and keep them engaged with your company overview and business plan.
Keep it succinct
When you’re passionate about something, it’s easy to get carried away. Remember that you’ve got plenty of space for details in your business plan. The company overview should be just the most basic information someone needs to understand your business.
It’s OK if your first draft of your company overview is long. Simply go through and edit it to be shorter, removing unnecessary details and words each time you read through it. Clear, concise descriptions are more likely to be read and to keep the reader reading to other sections of your business plan.
Have structure
Your company overview is just one piece of a multi-tiered business plan. Creating a clear structure for your business plan makes it easier to read. The same is true for your company overview.
Your business plan should have chapters, one of which is the company overview. Then, you can further break down the content for easy skimming and reading by adding sub-chapters. You can denote these breaks in content with bold headers.
While you can break down each section of the company overview with bold headers based on the above suggestions, you can also interweave some information together, such as the company structure and leadership structure. Each section should be only a few sentences long.
Write it later
If you’re struggling to write your company overview, come back to it. Write the rest of your business plan first and then write your company overview.
While this might seem like the opposite way of doing things, knowing what will be contained in the rest of your business plan can help you to focus in on the very most essential details in the company overview and to leave everything else out.
Get a test reader
If you’re struggling to edit down your company overview, get a test reader. Ideally, you’ll want to ask someone who doesn’t know a lot about your business. They’ll help you understand whether or not you’ve clearly communicated your message.
Proofreading is the final step in editing something you’ve written. This type of editing looks for typos, misspellings and grammatical errors that have been missed. Many of these small errors can be difficult to spot in our own writing, so be sure to ask someone who hasn’t seen multiple drafts of your company overview.
Company overview examples
If you don’t want to shell out for business planning software, but would still like some company overview examples to get you started, there are many places online you can look to for help getting started, like the Small Business Administration and SCORE.
Many successful companies also have some version of their company overview made public as their company profile page online. There are some variations from the company overview steps we’ve listed above, of course, but you can use the language and style of these company overview examples for inspiration:
Starbucks company profile .
Puma company page .
TaskRabbit About page .
Peloton company page .
Nestlé About page .
If you’re still feeling stuck, or want more company overview examples, try searching the websites of your favorite companies for more information. You might be surprised what you find — the Nestlé page, for example, has more information about their strategy and business principles.
Project Management Business Plan Template
Written by Dave Lavinsky
Project Management Business Plan
Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their project management companies.
If you’re unfamiliar with creating a project management business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.
In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a project management business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.
Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >
What Is a Business Plan?
A business plan provides a snapshot of your project management business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.
Why You Need a Business Plan
If you’re looking to start a project management business or grow your existing project management company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your project management business to improve your chances of success. Your project management business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.
Sources of Funding for Project Management Businesses
With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a project management business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for project management companies.
How to Write a Business Plan for a Project Management Business
If you want to start a project management business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your project management business plan.
Executive Summary
Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.
The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of project management business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a project management business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of project management businesses?
Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.
- Give a brief overview of the project management industry.
- Discuss the type of project management business you are operating.
- Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
- Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
- Offer an overview of your financial plan.
Company Overview
In your company overview, you will detail the type of project management business you are operating.
For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of project management businesses:
- Marketing project management : this type of project management involves overseeing projects related to marketing and advertising.
- Construction project management: this type of project management involves overseeing responsibilities related to planning and the logistics of a construction project.
- Engineering project management: this type of project management is responsible for overseeing engineering projects to ensure they’re completed appropriately.
- IT project management: this type of project management involves overseeing job duties such as establishing IT goals, overseeing the IT team’s processes and ensuring all project-related employees have the necessary resources to complete the project.
In addition to explaining the type of project management business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.
Include answers to questions such as:
- When and why did you start the business?
- What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of clients served, the number of clients with positive outcomes, reaching X number of clients served, etc.
- Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.
Industry Analysis
In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the project management industry.
While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.
First, researching the project management industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.
Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.
The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.
The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your project management business plan:
- How big is the project management industry (in dollars)?
- Is the market declining or increasing?
- Who are the key competitors in the market?
- Who are the key suppliers in the market?
- What trends are affecting the industry?
- What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
- What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your project management business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.
Customer Analysis
The customer analysis section of your project management business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.
The following are examples of customer segments: small businesses, midsize companies and corporations.
As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of project management business you operate. Clearly, corporations would respond to different marketing promotions than small businesses, for example.
Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.
Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.
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Competitive Analysis
Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.
Direct competitors are other project management businesses.
Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes in-house employees, online programs, or software. You need to mention such competition as well.
For each such competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as
- What types of clients do they serve?
- What type of project management business are they?
- What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
- What are they good at?
- What are their weaknesses?
With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.
The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:
- Will you provide your own staff?
- Will you offer products or services that your competition doesn’t?
- Will you provide better customer service?
- Will you offer better pricing?
Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.
Marketing Plan
Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a project management business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:
Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of project management company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide consulting, scheduling, budgeting, or staffing?
Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the products and/or services you offer and their prices.
Place : Place refers to the site of your project management company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your project management business located in a business district, a standalone office, or purely online? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.
Promotions : The final part of your project management marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:
- Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
- Attend industry events and tradeshows
- Reach out to websites
- Distribute flyers
- Engage in email marketing
- Advertise on social media platforms
- Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords
Operations Plan
While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.
Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your project management business, including answering calls, planning and providing project services, client interaction, billing clients and/or vendors, etc.
Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to book your Xth client, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your project management business to a new city.
Management Team
To demonstrate your project management business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.
Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing project management businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.
If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a project management business or successfully running a small consulting firm.
Financial Plan
Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.
Income Statement
An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.
In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you manage 5 clients per day, and/or offer consulting services? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.
Balance Sheets
Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your project management business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.
Cash Flow Statement
Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.
When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a project management business:
- Cost of equipment and office supplies
- Payroll or salaries paid to staff
- Business insurance
- Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment
Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or a list of project management services you plan to offer.
Writing a business plan for your project management business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the project management industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful project management business.
Project Management Business Plan Template FAQs
What is the easiest way to complete my project management business plan.
Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your project management business plan.
How Do You Start a Project Management Business?
Starting a project management business is easy with these 14 steps:
- Choose the Name for Your Project Management Business
- Create Your Project Management Business Plan
- Choose the Legal Structure for Your Project Management Business
- Secure Startup Funding for Your Project Management Business (If Needed)
- Secure a Location for Your Business
- Register Your Project Management Business with the IRS
- Open a Business Bank Account
- Get a Business Credit Card
- Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
- Get Business Insurance for Your Project Management Business
- Buy or Lease the Right Project Management Business Equipment
- Develop Your Project Management Business Marketing Materials
- Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Project Management Business
- Open for Business
Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Project Management business plan?
OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You
Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.
Click here to see how a Growthink business planning advisor can create your business plan for you.
Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates
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How to Write a Comprehensive Project Management Plan [+ Examples]
By Midori Nediger , Jul 10, 2020
Have you ever been part of a project that didn’t go as planned?
It doesn’t feel good.
Wasted time, wasted resources. It’s pretty frustrating for everyone involved.
That’s why it’s so important to create a comprehensive project management plan before your project gets off the ground.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to create and design a successful project management plan.
We’ll also showcase easy-to-customize templates you can create today in our Project Management Plan Maker .
START CREATING FOR FREE
What is a project management plan?
A project management plan is a formal document that defines how a project is going to be carried out. It outlines the scope, goals, budget, timeline, and deliverables of a project, and it’s essential for keeping a project on track.
You write a project plan during the project planning stage of the project life cycle , and it must be approved by stakeholders before a project can move on the execution stage.
If some of these terms are new to you, you can get up to speed with this post on project management terms .
This means your project plan must be engaging, organized, and thorough enough to gain the support of your stakeholders.
CREATE THIS PLAN TEMPLATE
Further Reading : New to project management? Read our blog post on the 4 stages of the project life cycle .
What are the parts of a project management plan?
Before you start assembling your own plan, you should be familiar with the main components of a typical project plan .
A project management plan should include the following sections:
- Executive Summary: A short description of the contents of the report
- Project Scope & Deliverables: An outline of the boundaries of the project, and a description of how the project will be broken down into measurable deliverables
- Project Schedule: A high-level view of project tasks and milestones ( Gantt charts are handy for this)
- Project Resources: The budget, personnel, and other resources required to meet project goals
- Risk and Issue Management Plan: A list of factors that could derail the project and a plan for how issues will be identified, addressed, and controlled
- Communication Management Plan: A plan for how team and stakeholder communication will be handled over the course of the project
Basically, a project plan should tell stakeholders what needs to get done, how it will get done, and when it will get done.
That said, one size doesn’t fit all. Every project management plan must be tailored to the specific industry and circumstances of the project. You can use a project management app for smoother project planning.
For example, this marketing plan looks client facing. It is tailored to sell the client on the agency:
Whereas this commercial development plan focuses on specific objectives and a detailed timeline:
With those basics out of the way, let’s get into some tips for creating a project management plan that’s as engaging as it is professional.
Further Reading : If you’re looking to create a proposal, read our in-depth business proposal guide. Then try our job proposal templates or business proposal templates .
How do you write a project plan?
1. highlight the key elements of your project plan in an executive summary .
An executive summary is a brief description of the key contents of a project plan .
I t’s usually the first thing stakeholders will read, and it should act like a Cliff’s-notes version of the whole plan.
It might touch on a project’s value proposition, goals, deliverables, and important milestones, but it has to be concise (it is a summary, after all). First, make sure you develop a proof of concept .
In this example, an executive summary can be broken into columns to contrast the existing problem with the project solution:
CREATE THIS PRESENTATION TEMPLATE
The two-column format with clear headers help break up the information, making it extremely easy to read at a glance.
Here’s another example of a project management plan executive summary. This one visually highlights key takeaways with big fonts and helpful icons:
In this case, the highlighted facts and figures are particularly easy to scan (which is sure to make your stakeholders happy).
But your executive summary won’t always be so simple.
For larger projects, your executive summary will be longer and more detailed.
This project management plan template has a text-heavy executive summary, though the bold headers and differing background colors keep it from looking overwhelming:
It’s also a good idea to divide it up into sections, with a dedicated header for each section:
Regardless of how you organize your executive summary, it should give your stakeholders a preview of what’s to come in the rest of the project management plan.
2. Plot your project schedule visually with a Gantt chart
A carefully planned project schedule is key to the success of any project. Without one, your project will likely crumble into a mess of missed deadlines, poor team management, and scope creep.
Luckily, project planning tools like Gantt charts and project timelines make creating your project schedule easy. You can visually plot each project task, add major milestones, then look for any dependencies or conflicts that you haven’t accounted for.
For example, this Gantt chart template outlines high-level project activities over the course of an entire quarter, with tasks color-coded by team:
CREATE THIS CHART TEMPLATE
A high-level roadmap like the one above is probably sufficient for your project management plan. Every team will be able to refer back to this timeline throughout the project to make sure they’re on track.
But before project kickoff, you’ll need to dig in and break down project responsibilities by individual team member, like in this Gantt chart example:
In the later execution and monitoring phases of the project, you’ll thank yourself for creating a detailed visual roadmap that you can track and adjust as things change.
You can also use a project management tool to keep your team organized.
Further Reading: Our post featuring Gantt chart examples and more tips on how to use them for project management.
3. Clarify the structure of your project team with a team org chart
One of the hardest aspects of project planning is assembling a team and aligning them to the project vision.
And aligning your team is all about communication–communicating the project goals, communicating stakeholder requests, communicating the rationale behind big decisions…the list goes on.
This is where good project documentation is crucial! You need to create documents that your team and your stakeholders can access when they have questions or need guidance.
One easy thing to document visually is the structure of your team, with an organizational chart like this one:
In an organizational chart you should include some basic information like team hierarchy and team member contact information. That way your stakeholders have all of the information they need at their fingertips.
But in addition to that, you can indicate the high-level responsibilities of each team member and the channels of communication within the team (so your team knows exactly what they’re accountable for).
Here’s another simple organizational structure template that you can use as a starting point:
Create an organizational chart with our organizational chart maker .
4. organize project risk factors in a risk breakdown structure.
A big part of project planning is identifying the factors that are likely to derail your project, and coming up with plans and process to deal with those factors. This is generally referred to as risk management .
The first step in coming up with a risk management plan is to list all of the factors at play, which is where a risk breakdown structure comes in handy. A risk breakdown structure is a hierarchical representation of project risks, organized by category.
This risk breakdown structure template, for example, shows project risk broken down into technical risk, management risk, and external risk:
Once you’ve constructed your risk breakdown structure, you’ll be ready to do a deep dive into each risk (to assess and plan for any triggers and outcomes).
Streamline your workflow with business process management software .
5. plan ahead: create project status reports to communicate progress to stakeholders.
As I mentioned earlier, communication is fundamental in any project.
But even so, something that’s often overlooked by project managers is a communication management plan–a plan for how the project team is going to communicate with project stakeholders . Too often, project communication defaults to ad-hoc emails or last-minute meetings.
You can avoid this by planning ahead. Start with a project kickoff meeting and include a project status report template as part of your communication plan.
Here’s an example of a simple project status report that you might send to stakeholders on a weekly basis:
CREATE THIS REPORT TEMPLATE
This type of report is invaluable for communicating updates on project progress. It shows what you’ve accomplished in a clear, consistent format, which can help flag issues before they arise, build trust with your stakeholders , and makes it easy to reflect on project performance once you’ve reached your goals.
You might also want to include a broader status report for bigger updates on a monthly or quarterly basis, like this one:
The above template allows you to inform stakeholders of more major updates like new budget requirements, revised completion dates, and project performance ratings.
You can even include a visualization of up-to-date project milestones, like this example below:
Want more tips on creating visuals to enhance your communications? Read our visual communication guide for businesses .
Project management plan templates
A project management plan is probably the most important deliverable your stakeholders will receive from you (besides the project itself).
It holds all of the information that stakeholders will use to determine whether your project moves forward or gets kicked to the curb.
That’s why it’s a good idea to start with a project management plan template. Using a template can help you organize your information logically and ensure it’s engaging enough to hold your stakeholders’ attention.
Construction bid proposal template
Your construction bid proposal is probably competing against several other bidders. So, it’s important to get it right.
Start with a meticulous project overview, like in the second page of this template:
Though you may think this project will be similar to others you’ve done in the past, it’s important to nail the details.
This will also help you understand the scope of work so you can estimate costs properly and arrive at a quote that’s neither too high or low. Ontario Construction News has great advice on this process.
Simple project management plan template
This simple project management plan template that clearly lays out all of the information your stakeholders will need:
Simple project management communication plan template
A key part of project management is making sure everyone’s in the loop. A project communication plan ensures everyone knows how, where, who and when the team will communicate during the course of the project.
The key is to figure out what kind of communications is valuable to stakeholders and what is simply overwhelming and won’t lead to better decisions.
This template clearly outlines all of these factors to help manage expectations and eliminate confusion about what will get communicated and when:
Commercial development project plan template
The below project management plan template is simple and minimal, but still uses a unique layout and simple visuals to create an easy-to-read, scannable project overview.
This template is perfect for building or construction management , or any technical projects:
When picking a project plan template, look for one that’s flexible enough to accommodate any changes your stakeholders might request before they’ll approve the project. You never know what might change in the early planning stages of the project! You can also use project management tools to help you with your planning!
The takeaway: project plan best practices
- Use headers, columns, and highlights to make your executive summary easy to read
- Plot your project schedule with a Gantt chart (with tasks color-coded by department or team member)
- Use visuals like organizational charts and risk breakdown structures to communicate across your team and with stakeholders
- Pick a flexible template that you can update to align with stakeholder requests
CREATE A PROJECT PLAN
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
The background of a project is very important, especially when the project is being done for the first time and there is no previous experience to draw upon. This article gives an insight into the importance of a good project background and what should be included in it.
In a traditional business plan, your company background (also called the "company description") follows the executive summary. 2 Sharing the origin of the idea is valuable because it shows how you think and how you were able to take an idea, craft it into something more detailed, and ultimately build a business out of it.
A company overview provides the reader of your business plan with basic background information about your company so they have an understanding of what you do, who the management team is and...
Your project management business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes. Sources of Funding for Project Management Businesses With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a project management business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors.