At some point, almost every student has had to force themselves to sit down and write an essay. Maybe it was 2 AM. Perhaps it was about the rise of totalitarian regimes or the symbolic meaning of rivers in American literature. But here’s the twist: those same annoying essay-writing habits can come in handy later — specifically, when trying to plan a business.

Sounds like a stretch, right? But hear me out.

Treat Your Business Plan Like an Essay Draft (Not a Pitch Deck)

People get weirdly stiff when writing business plans. They think they need to sound like Jeff Bezos on investor day. But what if they approached it like a college essay instead?

Think about what you do when you write a halfway decent essay:

• You come up with a thesis.
  
  
• You break your argument into parts.
  
  
• You arrange those parts so they build on each other.
  
  
• You cut out anything that doesn’t help your point.
  
  

Now, swap in “business” instead of “literature” or “science” or whatever. Your thesis is your big idea. Maybe you’re opening a mobile dog-grooming business in Portland. Cool. But you can’t just say that — you need to defend it. You need paragraphs. You need transitions. You need flow.

That’s where those academic instincts kick in.

Use Clarity Like a Weapon, Not a Decoration

One of the best writing tips ever thrown around a classroom was from Orwell: If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

Students who’ve taken that seriously often improve at business writing later. They learn how to say things without wasting time, without trying to sound more intelligent than they are. If you can’t explain your idea clearly, maybe you don’t understand it yet. That applies to both essays and business plans.

This is where tools like Essaywritercheap.org sneak into the picture. Many students who’ve used services like this say it helps them organize their thinking, which later transfers to pitching a concept or creating a product strategy. It’s not about copying—it’s about watching someone write clearly and learning from the structure.

Sometimes, students who write 5-paragraph essays with sharp intros and clean conclusions end up creating cleaner go-to-market plans than people who jump straight into business school jargon.

Organize Ideas Like You’re Arguing With Someone Smarter Than You

One of the weirdest tricks in writing is to imagine explaining your idea to someone who thinks you’re wrong. Not someone who hates you—just someone a bit skeptical. It forces you to back up your claims and think in layers. Oddly, this also works when writing about target demographics or revenue streams.

Entrepreneurs get stuck when they assume everyone will “just get it.” They won’t. You need to anticipate where people will push back. It’s like writing the counterargument paragraph in an essay, except instead of “Some critics believe…,” you’re saying, “Some investors may wonder why we’re targeting this niche instead of going broader.”

This method is more valuable than obsessing over charts or buzzwords, especially in the early stages. Write like you’re defending an argument. Make your business plan sweat under your questions.

Persuasive Writing Is Underrated in Business (Because People Think It’s Cheesy)

When students learn rhetorical strategies — ethos, pathos, logos — they usually roll their eyes. “Why would I ever use this again?” they ask. Then, they find themselves trying to write an email to a potential co-founder or supplier. Or an About page. Or a funding proposal. Suddenly, they’re back in high school, trying to convince a teacher that The Great Gatsby is about money and sadness.

Good business writing is persuasive. But not in the sleazy, used-car way. More like, here’s a real problem and why our solution makes sense. Here’s who we are. Here’s why you can trust us. Here’s what we’ve done. Students use the same toolkit when trying to persuade someone in an essay. Just repurposed.

Flow Matters More Than You Think — And No, It’s Not a Vibe Thing

Many business documents are technically correct but painful to read. For example, no one wants to read your 30-page strategy if every section feels like a restart.

Flow in writing is when one idea pulls you to the next. In essays, it’s transitions and pacing. In business planning, it’s making sure your value proposition leads naturally to your product features, which leads to your pricing, which makes sense based on your audience, which ties to your launch plan.

Even if the plan isn’t perfect, people feel more confident in you when those things line up. It’s weird how that works. Bad writing makes good ideas look shaky. A smooth narrative — even with some flaws — can feel more trustworthy.

A Weird but Useful Idea: Use Essay Feedback Logic To Refine Your Business Plan

Every student knows the sting of getting a paper back with comments like “vague” or “needs more support.” What if you applied that kind of feedback loop to your business plan?

Like, literally. Ask someone to read it and give you feedback like a professor would. Is the core idea clear? Are the points backed up? Is the tone consistent? Did anything confuse them?

This kind of critique — specific and text-based — can reveal more than generic business advice. You don’t need a Harvard MBA to say, “I don’t buy this part,” or “This paragraph feels like filler.”

Let’s take this one step further: get a friend who is good at writing essays to read your business draft. Not a business major. A writer. See what they say.

Some Names and Proof It Works

Ben Horowitz, one of the biggest names in venture capital (Andreessen Horowitz), once said in a Stanford talk that storytelling is one of the most essential founder skills. It’s how you make people care. Not just investors but employees, users, and the media.

And it’s not just talk. Companies that lead with clear, persuasive stories often win over more funding. According to a CB Insights report, “weak team communication” is one of the top five reasons startups fail, which often starts with poor writing.

If more founders thought like writers, maybe fewer would run out of money after building something nobody understood.

So yeah, maybe those nights you spent writing about Plato or plate tectonics weren’t a waste after all. Maybe those essay-writing skills are exactly what you need when you decide to build something real. Maybe your high school English teacher deserves a thank-you text.

Or not. Depends on how they graded you. But don’t open Excel first the next time you write a business plan. Open Google Docs. Pretend it’s an essay. Could you give it a hook, an argument, and a soul? The spreadsheets can wait.