Tracie Troxler will talk about how her business plan is a prerequisite to grant funding. Learn how this entrepreneur benefited from essential business planning. When you launch a new business, one of the first mistakes you can make is getting started without a comprehensive, well-researched, and detailed business plan. A comprehensive business plan should outline your business goals, products and services, market analysis, distribution strategy and financial projections.  A startup should map out a business plan, even if it is just one page. It should include how much it costs to operate, how much they anticipate selling, who would buy their product and why. Too many businesses start without a basic plan, and if you fail to plan, you are essentially planning to fail.