A business plan is a detailed outline of what your business does or will do, how it will operate, how you plan to market the business, who you will employ and what they will do, how much money you expect to make, and how much money you will need to run it. Your business plan is your roadmap and helps to identify the steps you need to take to move your business forward.  It helps lenders decide how much financing they can give you and lets you evaluate whether your business is performing as you thought it would.  If it isn’t, what changes do you need to make?  Business plans are always changing.