The business plan is an important tool for raising capital, finding strategic partners, recruiting, and providing an internal guide on how to drive a company’s growth. The plan should include an executive overview, introduction to the management team, market and competitive analyses, value proposition, operating plan, financial projections, and potential risks. The plan should be concise, well written, and dynamic. Details behind key assumptions should be included. Common business plan pitfalls include focusing only on the product without framing it in the context of the consumers/patients, the market dynamics, and the ecosystem in which it will be launched, as well as giving financials that are too aggressive and precise given the stage the company is in. New founders should consider engaging experts to help test assumptions as they develop the key parts of the business plan, including the financial projections. Many of the same concepts for writing a business plan for a startup apply to creating a business plan for a new clinical program or expanding operations within a health system
