Curious about business plan annotations? What to cite, whether to cite, who gets credit for saying what, etc.? The short answer is, there's no one way to do it. Purists and academic business plan writing favors a complete list of all sources used in your business plan, including citations for all figures, summarized articles, and other inputs. A less strict approach to the document says you don't need any formal citations. A business plan can be written, proofed, and presented all without attributing a single element, provided you're sourcing from publicly-available resources like the Census Bureau or, alternately, using only data sets from private reports that can't be viewed by readers anyway.
Some general considerations:
• If you do cite sources, standard MLA approach is fine
• There's no hard rule about footnotes versus endnotes; choose whichever better fits you plan format
• Consider supplying any private reports as attachments, but double-check the rights release info for the report
There is no "right" answer. You know your audience better than anyone else and are best able to gauge their receipt of your document and their need for formality. Follow your instincts and if you include citations, check them over again before you print. Want help determining how to handle this, or want to bolster your current plan with a fresh perspective from a trained group of business writers? MasterPlans is the company for you. We have been writing formal and informal documents to spec for entrepreneurs since 2002. Our team can deliver for you too -- call a consultant now at 877-453-2011.
