What type of data is most valuable for a business plan?

By: Janice Mejías Avilés, Edited by: Rebecca Munday

Published: June 13, 2025

Making data-informed decisions should be a priority when creating a business plan. Choosing the right data may help you understand your customers' needs, create new products or services, and make informed financial decisions.

Learn which types of data are most valuable for a business plan and how to determine which data is most relevant to your business or industry.

What are the main data types needed for a business plan?

Having the right data may help you create a business plan with confidence. While no two businesses are alike, each with unique information requirements, some categories apply broadly, such as financial, market, and operational data.

For example, a bakery and a tech startup may require specific metrics to ensure viability, but both need data on costs, customer demand, and market positioning.

Here are the main data types for any business plan:

• Market research data: Helps identify possible customers and understand their needs, market size, and demand. Market research data may be sourced from government databases, online analytics tools, industry whitepapers, academic journals, and research firms.
• Competitive analysis data: Identifies advantages and potential opportunities for your business. It provides information about competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, product or service details (such as pricing), market share, and customer perception.
• Financial data: Helps stakeholders assess a business's viability, profitability, funding needs, and growth potential. Common financial data include profit and loss statements, cash flow projections, and balance sheets. New businesses often rely on industry benchmarks and market research reports, while established companies tend to use internal reports and tax returns.
• Marketing and sales data: Monitors customer acquisition, retention, and revenue trends. Businesses typically gather this data from customer relationship management (CRM) software, sales reports, and website or social media analytics.
• Industry trends: Track market shifts, consumer behavior changes, and emerging technologies. The latest industry trends may be found in whitepapers, professional associations or trade publications, and research firm reports.
• Customer feedback: Allows customers to evaluate product or service satisfaction, addresses pain points, and identifies areas for improvement. It may also inspire businesses to develop new offerings, adjust operations, or improve customer experience. This type of data may be collected through surveys, online reviews, social media comments, and focus groups.
• Customer demographics: Analyzes age groups, gender identity, income, education, and location to determine target audience. This information may guide marketing efforts or influence pricing. Businesses may source demographic data from census reports, customer surveys, CRM systems, and research firms.
• Industry-specific data: Focuses on operational, regulatory, and economic factors unique to a sector. For example, technology businesses may have the results of their beta testing to support product demand and usability. Business leaders may use this data to familiarize themselves with regulations, best practices, supply chain logistics, and cost structures. Trade associations and regulatory agencies may provide industry-specific data for business planning.

How should business leaders determine which types of data are most valuable for their business?

When creating a business plan, entrepreneurs and leaders need to determine which data may support funding requests and validate operational viability. While all industries require financial projections, competitive analysis, and customer insights, each sector relies on specialized data.

Here's an overview of valuable data types for the industries of technology, business and finance, and healthcare:

Technology

A technology business plan often focuses on market demand, product or service viability, scalability, and profitability. Without this data, investors and stakeholders may hesitate to finance the venture.

Data to support this may address:

• Scalability and development costs for systems, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity measures
• The talent required to support operations and growth
• Monetization strategy with a detailed revenue stream
• Results programs or beta testing to demonstrate demand, usability, and potential adoption

Business and finance

A business and finance business plan focuses on profitability, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

Business plan data should validate the business model, often considering data such as:

• Financial projections with profit margins, cash flow, and return-on-investment (ROI) projections
• Legal requirements, financial reporting standards, and risk mitigation needed to ensure compliance
• Unique value propositions and pricing strategy
• Business structure, funding requirements and allocation, and investment strategies

Healthcare

A healthcare business plan must demonstrate financial sustainability while assuring the ability to deliver quality patient care and comply with industry regulations.

Healthcare systems may consider including data that addresses the following:

• Capacity and staffing, detailed facility requirements, and the health professionals needed for service delivery
• Technology infrastructure such as electronic health record systems and telehealth capabilities
• Demographic information, health trends, and patient population needs
• Operational costs, revenue streams, and insurance coverage data and reimbursement rates