Writing a business plan is not the means to an end. Your goal should be to write one that will win the interest of investors, penetrate the market, generate income, and grow your business. That said, it is essential to know what key elements, including marketing methods and business processes, are critical to being successful in a given market.

One of the best ways to start is by researching, examining, and cross-examining all the information you can find about your competitors’ methods of doing business. But keep this in mind. While there are many competitors, not all are really succeeding in the market. Some simply stay afloat with shallow cash flow. Others are slowing down, burdened with debt and on the verge of sinking. While some may be on the coast, well grounded, in the green and growing.

While there is something to learn from every company, your focus should be primarily on those who truly succeed. Study companies that have a proven track record of revenue generating areas and target revenue streams. Now the big question: how do you access another company’s business plan?

The reliability of public data

Once companies have gone public, they must publish analytics data for investors and make it available through other public places. It is true that much of this information is full of generalities and inaccuracies. Relying on public data may not give you a true insider’s view of the company’s business process model or a real understanding of what makes it tick. But it is a start. There are four additional methods for learning about the internals of the business process of a successful company:

1. Work for them

2. Work with them

3. Meet someone who does one of the above

4. Get your hands on your initial business plan, as well as any revisions.

Accessing the plan

While the latter would appear to be the easiest approach of the four, the question of how to access the plan remains. Companies document, review, and share their business plans with staff, the media, and press releases. Parts of the plan appear in the sales copy and in the human resources materials. That being said, the data ends up readily available to the person who knows how to access it. There are business plan archives that take the time to collect business plan data from companies that have published data over time. The goal is to produce a comprehensive business plan that reflects the success of the business, revealing proven methods that helped the business penetrate the market, win business, and grow.

Learn strategic growth techniques from competitors

The value of studying a pre-written and executed business plan that wins business is simple. You are putting yourself in the shoes of successful business professionals and competitors who know the marketing strategies that grow a business. You’re learning their strategy, technique, and business process from the ground floor.

Once you have the plan in hand, read the mission statement and objectives. Familiarize yourself with the positioning of the company. Learn how your competition strategizes to penetrate the market. Consider the established business process, including the various departments, staff demographics, procedural communication and documentation methods, the information cascade between departments, and maintaining quality relationships with employees. Take the time to examine the backgrounds, education, experience, and other credentials of team members. Find out what makes that team tick and why the team’s efforts work.

Seeing the market through the eye of the eagle

With your competitor’s business plans, you get an eagle-eye view of the market and a clear plan to penetrate and capture various segments and niches. With an insider’s view of the business process, you can examine the scale and dimensions of a functional business model from which to build your own project. Designing your own business model becomes less abstract, less complex, and much more comprehensive. Also, understanding the inner workings of the business process makes it much more manageable.

So before writing a business plan to help you market, manage, and grow your business, take the time to access the winning business plan of your most successful competitors and learn about the key elements that have led to your success. Over time, you will have a plan yourself that will win the interest of investors, penetrate the market, generate income, and grow your business.