Here it is—our first ever Q&A! As promised earlier this week, every Thursday morning I'll answer your questions about anything related to business planning or start-ups. To be honest, I received a few questions that I didn't know what to do with (Q: How do I use your webcam? A: We don't have one...and you're kind of scaring me.; Q: Send me a business plan. A: Um, no. And that's not a question.)

Despite that, there were a few goodies, such as reader Phin's question, which I'm tackling this week. He asks which sections need to be included in a business plan.

First, keep it simple and short, Phin. You don't need a lot of useless information or extraneous sections that an investor isn't going to read anyway. You want to keep your reader's attention, and given that most bank officers and investors see scads of business plans monthly, the odds aren't in your favor if you hand them the start-up version of War and Peace. That said, the most basic components every business plan should have are an executive summary, a description of your product or service, a brief analysis of the market and need, a management summary (in other words, your resume), and of course financials, including a profit and loss statement and cash flow tables.

Put the most effort into the executive summary. While the other sections—such as the market analysis and financials are important, and prove that you're not a rube—an investor is going to perform due diligence and run his own numbers. Beyond that, you actually want an investor or lender to read your plan. I know I make bankers and investors sound like a bunch of teenagers who chronically forget to take their adderall—but the truth is, most of them don't make it past the executive summary. Keep your exec sum focused on your product or services' highlights. Remember, the idea here is to get an investor excited about your idea.

Thanks for your question, Phin. As for the rest of you, please keep the questions coming by using the contact form at the right!