You wouldn't run a marathon without doing the proper training, right?

You also shouldn't start a company without writing a business plan.

On the surface, a business plan is a tool to help you pitch your company to potential investors, bankers, employees or suppliers. It helps you say I can do this.

But a plan is also a development and organizational tool for you, because it generates a list of goals to keep you on track. It can help uncover unexpected obstacles.

''It forces objective thinking,'' said Raju Mohandas, a SCORE counselor who led a business-plan writing workshop in January along with Sam Carson, SCORE Miami's chapter chairman.

Josephine Kling is refining her business plan with Melissa Krinzman, who runs Venture Architects, a firm that helps capital-seeking private companies develop plans, financial projections and investor presentations.

Kling and partner Joyce Landry, who have run a successful cruise-event services company for 27 years, plan to launch their Web-based cruise marketplace for meeting planners, called Seasite, in April. But they began writing a plan for their new online venture last April.

It's time well spent, says Kling, who is pitching the business to investors. ``The process of preparing a plan helps you to be able to speak about it. It focuses your message.''

So here is some advice to consider, whether you are writing your full plan or entering our Business Plan Challenge contest:

There is no single formula for a business plan. But experts interviewed for this article agree plans should include this information: An executive summary; a clear company description; management team bios; a market analysis that includes size and growth of the industry; an analysis of the competition; a marketing strategy; a growth strategy; funding sources and financial projections.

Some key areas:

• The executive summary: Just one to three pages, it should contain the highlights of your entire plan so it should be written last. It should include what stage your company is in, where you want to take it and why now is the right time to launch.

''What I want to see is a crisp summary of the business concept, what the marketplace looks like now and why the business is needed,'' says Barbara Boxer, an investor who has looked at hundreds of plans as the founder of Women Angels in Miami, Milwaukee and Chicago.

Mohandas says the plan must quickly capture an investor's or lender's interest: ``If you didn't catch me with the summary, you may have done a lot of beautiful work that won't get you anywhere.''

For the Business Plan Challenge, your entry can only be up to three pages, so think of your submission as a detail-rich executive summary. If you already have a business plan, maybe you can submit its executive summary. You can include one additional page of supplemental material -- such as a product photo or diagram -- if you wish. For an example, find last year's winning plan of The Allergy-Free Shop on MiamiHerald.com/challenge.

• Market and competitive analyses: All the experts think these sections are shortchanged by entrepreneurs. ''I want the business plan to show me that the entrepreneur understands the market forces,'' says Boxer, also a judge in the Challenge. ``What do they need to succeed? What's out there?''

Entrepreneurs often think they don't have competition but they do, all the experts say. It could be another type of business that still competes for the core customer's time and money. It could be future competition. Another problem: Entrepreneurs don't do their homework to understand the competition's strengths and weaknesses, says Venture Architect's Krinzman, also a Challenge judge.

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