Creating a business plan is a vital first step toward starting a company. The plan is your opportunity to map out every step toward the new venture so prospective partners and investors understand your vision. The document’s formatting is just as essential as the content when it comes to comprehensibility, so use these tips to present a well-organized plan.

3 Tips for a Business Plan Layout

1. Choose a Readable Font

The two main types of fonts are serif and sans serif. Serif has small strokes accenting the letters, while sans serif is plainer. Recommended serif fonts include Cambria, Times New Roman, and Georgia. For sans serif, try Arial, Veranda, and Calibri. Some believe serif fonts look better in print while sans is better on the computer screen, but the six fonts above are acceptable for any media. Font size should either be 10 to 12-point in the body, while 14 or 16- point fonts will be large enough for headings. The font size and type is your preference, but should remain consistent throughout the document.

2. Present a Cover Page

What your potential business partner or investor first sees of your plan will influence their attitude as they go into reading the document, which is why you need to provide a sleek cover page. Besides including essential details like your company name, date, and contact information, the cover page should represent your brand with your logo and color scheme. Size your company name the largest to ensure it’s clear from the get-go as to what the plan is about. If you have a tag line, include that too. Check the cover page’s readability and impact by looking at it in hand, then from afar.

3. Employ White Space

White space, or negative space, refers to the parts of a page purposely left without text or illustrations. It naturally makes the eyes focus on the centered text or graphic, aiding reading comprehension. Take advantage of white space with bullet points when listing information and an extra line between subheadings and the body of text. When adding graphs and charts, leave plenty of space around all margins to make the colors pop. Also, include a larger margin on the left side of the document to accommodate binding.

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