Business planning is the process whereby an organization’s leaders figure out the best roadmap for growth and document their plan for success. The business planning process includes diagnosing the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, improving its efficiency, working out how it will compete against rival firms in the future, and setting milestones for progress so they can be measured. Writing a new business plan involves a detailed process with a number of stages, some of which can overlap. Whether you are writing your plan from scratch, from a simple business plan template, or working with an experienced business plan consultant or writer, business planning for startups, small businesses, and existing companies is the same.