Here are the key details to include in a business plan for entrepreneur who are bootstrapping a business and want to succeed in less than a year

• Former bank executive Cate Luzio has relied on her business plan to help grow her bootstrapped collaboration space business to more than 600 individual and over 20 corporate members in one year.
• Before Luzio founded Luminary NYC, she led a 17-year career with HSBC, JPMorgan, and Bank of America, during which she wrote and reviewed countless plans for businesses clients around the world.
• Most business plan writing guides recommend between 7 and 13 sections. The most important elements are an executive summary and mission statement, as well as market analyses and financial projections.
• Luzio spoke with Business Insider about why every founder should have a business plan, and how she transformed her inspiration for a women-focused collaboration space into a viable idea by writing her plan in the span of a week.
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Cate Luzio had no idea that the direction of her career - and her life - was about to change when she arrived at a fundraising dinner for maternal health in March 2018.

Just a few months earlier, Luzio was managing director and the global head of multinational corporate banking at HSBC, managing a $2 billion portfolio and a team of more than 2,000 people located in 72 countries. During that time, she wrote and reviewed countless plans for businesses clients around the world.

She was on the cusp continuing her corporate career with another company, when she attended the fundraiser with two dozen other women. As the attendees shared their experiences, Luzio got to thinking about how she could help professional women on a larger scale.

Using her two decades of experience in business and corporate diversity and inclusion, she developed a business plan for a space for women to work and learn - and she did it in one week.

"I didn't really have much of a transition," Luzio said in an interview with Business Insider. "My family, my friends, they know I'm not someone that just sits around."

Fortified by her business plan, Luzio left the corporate world and founded Luminary NYC, a collaboration space that now has more than 600 individual and over 20 corporate members. The space hosted more than 200 events and workshops, led by members as well as corporate partners, in its first year alone.

More than a coworking space, Luminary offers extensive programming and network opportunities for women (and allies of all genders) at its upscale location on Broadway in midtown Manhattan.

Luzio sat down with Business Insider and shared how she developed her business plan, and why every entrepreneur should have one.

Who is the business plan for?

One of the most common reasons entrepreneurs write a business plan is to raise capital, but Luminary is a self-financed private company and Luzio didn't used her plan to get funding.

Almost all plans start with a mission statement and executive summary. Market analysis and growth forecast sections should also be included. Different guides recommend similar sections, and the ones you emphasize in your business plan will depend on your target audience. Most plans typically include between seven and 13 sections in total.

Even though Luzio's plan is a year and a half old, it still serves as a guidepost that helps her keep her business aligned with her original vision. (She doesn't share the plan publicly, but she shared it with Business Insider to review for this story).

Luminary's core mission is "advancing women in the workforce through community," Luzio said. "Whether you're a banker or lawyer or a yoga instructor or a coach, Luminary is meant to deliver the tools for you to succeed."

A pitch deck is not a plan

More than a third of Luminary's members are entrepreneurs or freelancers, and Luzio regularly helps them (and non-members) develop their plans.

Some have no written plan, while others just have a pitch deck. But most pitch decks don't go into enough detail about a business' competitive advantage or growth plan, Luzio said.

Plus, if a potential funder is interested in your elevator pitch or deck, having a well-documented plan on-hand can help your idea stand out. Just as a deck supports your elevator pitch, a business plan backs up your deck.

The Luminary plan is full of solutions to problems that didn't exist when she was writing it - and that's on purpose. Decision-making is both an art and a science, and planning in advance for problems can help you to make better business decisions long term.

Luzio's plan is informed by her extensive research and experience (WeWork was actually one of her clients well before its catastrophic collapse), and it outlines a carefully reasoned framework for how to handle decisions in a way that is consistent with her central mission.

In a time when co-working spaces capture so much investor attention, Luzio said her central mission keeps her focused on her own strategy.

Where to get help with your plan

Not every entrepreneur has the business experience that enabled Luzio to draft a viable plan within a week, but fortunately there are many places to turn for help.

In addition to professional communities like Luminary, financial institutions and public agencies offer a wide array of resources to help entrepreneurs refine their business plans.

The small business divisions of traditional banks and alternative finance firms are well-versed in the issues that entrepreneurs face, and have a lot of experience helping businesses improve their plans. (After all, these institutions win when your business succeeds - and pays interest on your loans).

Other guidance can be found through your local US Small Business Administration office, local small business agency, or chapter of SCORE. Wherever you get advice, it's important to think about what's right for your business.

"For me, it's staying focused on what you set out to build and not letting the noise get to you," Luzio said. "You had a reason for starting your business, so go deliver. Execute. Because that's what it's all about."