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If you’re working on a business plan, one of the most important sections will be outlining your products and services. I know, thrilling stuff right? But hear me out – a strong overview of your offerings can make or break your entire plan. It’s your chance to really sell readers on WHY your products deserve their investment, partnership, or purchase.
This section is where you provide the specifics on what you sell, how it stands out, and the value it brings to customers. It brings your products to life on the page. Sure, you could just make a basic list of what your business offers. But that’s missing out on an opportunity to get potential investors, partners, or even new hires excited about your offerings!
Your aim is to convince readers that you thoroughly understand your products, their benefits, who needs them, and why they’re better than the competition. You want to inspire confidence that you can successfully sell these offerings once your business is up and running. No pressure though!
In this post, we’ll walk through how to put together a compelling products and services overview for your business plan. I’ll share tips to help you explain your offerings in a way that highlights their uniqueness and gets readers eager to learn more. Let’s get started!
Start by broadly defining your product and service categories. Provide a high-level overview of your mix, outlining your broad offerings. For example, a restaurant could write: “ABC Restaurant is a fast casual eatery serving high-quality sandwiches, salads, soups, and shared plates. We also offer catering services and an onsite bakery selling fresh breads and desserts.” This opening paragraph gives readers context on the range of offerings.
Next, you can list out your products/services in more detail. A retail business, for instance, may write something like: “ABC Boutique sells trendy women’s clothing and accessories, including dresses, tops, bottoms, jackets, shoes, handbags, jewelry, belts, scarves, and more. We offer apparel and accessories from our own private label as well as other popular brands carried in-store.” Make your list comprehensive without becoming overly granular.
After defining your broad offerings, provide more details on your core products and services – the ones most important to your business. These could be your best-selling or most profitable items, signature products, or new offerings you are particularly focused on. Go beyond just naming them; describe their features, specifications, designs, materials, sizes/portions, and other attributes.
Explain how your products are used and what needs they fulfill. For a software company, highlight the key applications and use cases. A restaurant should spotlight signature dishes and their ingredients/preparation methods. Provide specifics to help readers visualize and understand your central products. Quantify anything you can, like size, capacity, or unit volume. You can include photos, diagrams, or charts to illustrate your products visually.
The goal is to convey what makes your main offerings special. Support any claims about quality, luxury, efficacy, or superiority with details that bring them to life for readers. Help them appreciate the uniqueness of your products versus competitors.
An important element of outlining products/services is explaining how they uniquely solve target customer problems or meet audience needs. This section can help crystallize your value proposition and competitive advantage. For each core offering, describe the specific wants, frustrations, or challenges it addresses for your ideal clients.
Back up your statements with market research that quantifies customer needs. For example, rather than just claiming your CRM software is user-friendly, cite stats on the % of people frustrated with current tools. Quote customer testimonials detailing issues your product alleviated. The more you can demonstrate a target need, then show how your product meets it, the more convincing your description will be.
An overview of products/services should also disclose your pricing model and strategy. Will you employ value-based, cost-plus, or competitive market pricing? Describe the methodology and rationale behind your retail prices, fees, rates, or billing structure. Provide specifics like price points, hourly fees, subscriptions costs, or project pricing. Outline minimums, maximums, and any discounts/promotions.
Explain your margins for each offering or product line. Detail wholesale pricing if selling through distributors. Justify higher prices by communicating the value clients receive. Alternatively, clarify how discounts/lower margins help you achieve strategic goals like building market share. Being transparent about pricing in your plan demonstrates thoughtfulness.
Another key element to address is how you will sell and distribute your offerings. Will you sell directly to consumers or use sales reps? Explain ecommerce fulfillment and shipping logistics. Do you plan to wholesale through distributors, brokers, retailers, or marketplaces? Describe any rules, margins, or requirements to carry your products.
Outline your physical locations, stores, showrooms, or service routes. Share growth plans like adding new direct or wholesale channels. Demonstrate how your distribution strategy matches customer buying preferences and makes purchasing convenient. The right sales and distribution model can be a strategic advantage, so showcase this proactively.
Strong products and services are complemented by excellent customer service and support. Use this section to highlight how you will deliver an exceptional post-purchase experience. For physical goods, describe shipping timelines, return policies, warranties, repairs, and other service offerings. Explain how customers can contact you for questions/assistance.
For services, detail ongoing support plans, client advisors, account management, and guaranteed response times. Highlight any self-serve options like knowledge bases, FAQs, training resources, communities, and more. Outlining your customer service approach demonstrates your commitment to client satisfaction. This builds trust and confidence in your offerings.
Your products and services overview should briefly explain your plans for marketing, advertising, and promotion. How will you create awareness and drive interest in your offerings? Summarize your brand messaging and positioning strategies. Share highlights of your planned advertising channels, lead generation tactics, and sales team approach.
Without going into excessive depth, describe the customer journey you aim to create through marketing – how you will move leads through the sales funnel. Calling out key elements of your marketing plan enables readers to envision how your products will reach customers and meet sales goals. You can always provide fuller marketing details in its own section of your plan.
A compelling part of your product/service descriptions entails positioning them versus competitors. After summarizing offerings from rival businesses, make a case for why customers should buy from you instead. Explain how you differentiate in terms of pricing, quality, features, technology, intellectual property, or other dimensions.
You can cite customer testimonials or market research indicating why target users prefer your product. Avoid simply claiming you are “better” than competitors. Use specifics on needs you meet, problems you solve, and added value you deliver. Demonstrating your competitive advantage builds confidence in your offerings and company vision.
If your business produces physical products, detail your production capabilities and operations processes. Share specifics on production/manufacturing capacity and locations. Explain how you will achieve efficient, high-quality production to meet sales demand. Describe any proprietary manufacturing technologies or intellectual property. Outline your supply chain, sourcing, inventory management, and distribution processes.
For service businesses, discuss operational processes like delivering your services, scheduling appointments/jobs, and managing capacity versus demand. Highlight any special equipment, software, or technologies used to provide services efficiently. The goal is to convey you have well-designed, cost-effective operations to support sales and service delivery at scale.
Conclude your products/services section by sharing your plans to expand your lineup. Discuss any new offerings in your pipeline to help grow sales. Maybe you plan to enter new product categories, target additional customer segments, or personalize current offerings. If your new products build upon or leverage existing ones, explain how.
Share your timeline for launching growth-oriented products and services. For example, you may plan to test ideas through minimum viable products then gauge feedback for refinement before a full launch. Describing your plans to expand over time demonstrates the sustainability and ambition of your business. Even if specific new products are undefined, you can outline the innovation process that will bring them to market.
The products and services section of your business plan should bring your offerings to life through persuasive, detailed descriptions. Avoid generic or vague overviews – use specifics, data, and examples to showcase how your products uniquely meet customer needs. Explain your competitive differentiation and operations ecosystem supporting delivery at scale. Describing growth strategies for new offerings also communicates forward thinking. With this comprehensive guide to outlining products and services, you can craft a compelling section that highlights key business strengths.