---
title: "What Is Business plan? Dental Practice Glossary"
description: "A business plan is a written document that describes how a practice will operate and make money, used for planning and to show lenders or investors."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/business-plan
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Practice management

# Business plan

A business plan is a written document that describes how a practice will operate and make money, used for planning and to show lenders or investors.

The SBA says a business plan is a roadmap for how to structure, run and grow a new business. It adds that the plan is a tool to convince people that working with you or investing in your company is a smart choice. The ADA offers a dental guide that says a practice can follow the same general guidelines as other small businesses, and that existing practices may need to update their plans, especially to expand. The SBA's counseling page lists forecasted income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements as parts of a plan. A lender will often ask for these. See [practice financial statements](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-financial-statements) and [practice budget](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-budget).

[Next stepPractice consulting with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=consulting)

## Related terms

-   [Practice budget](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-budget)
-   [Practice financial statements](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-financial-statements)
-   [Practice loan](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-loan)
-   [Practice ownership](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-ownership)

## Sources

1.  [SBA, Write your business plan](https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan)
2.  [SBA, Plan your business](https://www.sba.gov/counseling/plan-your-business/)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)