business planning symbol

• Images home
• Editorial home
• Editorial video
• Premium collections
• Entertainment
• Premium images
• AI generated images
• Curated collections
• Animals/Wildlife
• Backgrounds/Textures
• Beauty/Fashion
• Buildings/Landmarks
• Business/Finance
• Celebrities
• Food and Drink
• Healthcare/Medical
• Illustrations/Clip-Art
• Miscellaneous
• Parks/Outdoor
• Signs/Symbols
• Sports/Recreation
• Transportation
• All categories
• Shutterstock Select
• Shutterstock Elements
• Health Care
• Sound effects

PremiumBeat

• PixelSquid 3D objects
• Templates Home
• Instagram all
• Highlight covers
• Facebook all
• Carousel ads
• Cover photos
• Event covers
• Youtube all
• Channel Art
• Etsy big banner
• Etsy mini banner
• Etsy shop icon
• Pinterest all
• Pinterest pins
• Twitter All
• Twitter Banner
• Infographics
• Zoom backgrounds
• Announcements
• Certificates
• Gift Certificates
• Real Estate Flyer
• Travel Brochures
• Anniversary
• Baby Shower
• Mother's Day
• Thanksgiving
• All Invitations
• Party invitations
• Wedding invitations
• Book Covers
• About Creative Flow
• Start a design

AI image generator

• Photo editor
• Background remover
• Collage maker
• Resize image
• Color palettes

Color palette generator

• Image converter
• Creative AI
• Design tips
• Custom plans
• Request quote
• Shutterstock Studios
• Data licensing

You currently have 0 credits

See all plans

Image plans

With access to 400M+ photos, vectors, illustrations, and more. Includes AI generated images!

Video plans

A library of 28 million high quality video clips. Choose between packs and subscription.

Music plans

Download tracks one at a time, or get a subscription with unlimited downloads.

Editorial plans

Instant access to over 50 million images and videos for news, sports, and entertainment.

Includes templates, design tools, AI-powered recommendations, and much more.

Business plan icons set

Related tags :

• business elements
• business plan
• business strategy
• business graphic
• design graphic
• chart design
• business chart
• business planning

You might also like

How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated May 7, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

• The basics of business planning

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that planning helps you: 

• Raise money
• Grow strategically
• Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

• A summary of the problem you are solving
• A description of your product or service
• An overview of your target market
• A brief description of your team
• A summary of your financials
• Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing processes
• Equipment and technology
• Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

• A description of each task
• The proposed due date
• Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

• Website launch date
• Store or office opening date
• First significant sales
• Break even date
• Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

• Conversion rates
• Customer acquisition costs
• Profit per customer
• Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

• Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
• Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
• Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
• Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
• Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

• Company logo
• Business name
• Value proposition (optional)
• Business plan title
• Completion and/or update date
• Address and contact information
• Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

• Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
• Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
• Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
• Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
• Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

• Did you meet your sales goals?
• Is spending following your budget?
• Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

Free business plan templates and examples

Kickstart your business plan writing with one of our free business plan templates or recommended tools.

Free business plan template

Download a free SBA-approved business plan template built for small businesses and startups.

Download Template

One-page plan template

Download a free one-page plan template to write a useful business plan in as little as 30-minutes.

Sample business plan library

Explore over 500 real-world business plan examples from a wide variety of industries.

View Sample Plans

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

• Write a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services.
• Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
• Outline your organizational structure and management team.
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
• Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

• 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
• Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
• Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
• Failing to establish a sound business model.
• Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

• How will your business make money?
• Is there a need for your product or service?
• Who are your customers?
• How are you different from the competition?
• How will you reach your customers?
• How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Table of Contents

• Use AI to help write your plan
• Common planning mistakes
• Manage with your business plan
• Templates and examples

Related Articles

3 Min. Read

What to Include in Your Business Plan Appendix

7 Min. Read

How to Write a Bakery Business Plan + Sample

5 Min. Read

How To Write a Business Plan for a Life Coaching Business + Free Example

1 Min. Read

How to Calculate Return on Investment (ROI)

The Bplans Newsletter

The Bplans Weekly

Subscribe now for weekly advice and free downloadable resources to help start and grow your business.

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

businessplan

Download 5 free Businessplan Icons in All design styles.

Get free Businessplan icons in iOS, Material, Windows and other design styles for web, mobile, and graphic design projects. These free images are pixel perfect to fit your design and available in both PNG and vector. Download icons in all formats or edit them for your designs.

Also, be sure to check out new icons and popular icons .

• User documentation

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Popular Templates
• Accessibility
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Beginner Guides

Blog Graphic Design Common Symbols and Meanings: How to Use Them in Design

Common Symbols and Meanings: How to Use Them in Design

Written by: Midori Nediger Nov 19, 2019

Symbols are a powerful way to communicate ideas and emotions quickly and clearly.

In design, using the right symbols can make your work more engaging and effective. Whether they are universally understood or specific to a culture, symbols can add depth and meaning to your designs.

This article explores common symbols, their meanings, and how to use them to enhance your design projects.

For a seamless design experience, try using Venngage’s Infographic Maker and professionally designed infographic templates to incorporate these symbols into your own infographics and visual content.

This guide to common symbols and meanings in design will cover:

Why are symbols used in graphic design.

• Universal symbols and meanings: shapes and lines 

How to use shapes and lines in design

Useful symbols and meanings for infographics, presentations, and reports, how to use symbols and icons in infographics and creative designs, how to use symbols and icons in professional documents, how to use symbols and icons in web design, where to get symbols, icons, and illustrations for your designs.

Designers use symbols and icons to:

• Add a touch of creativity to infographics 
• Make presentations more memorable and engaging
• Break up text content in dense reports 
• Help users navigate websites

You are probably familiar with many of these symbols already.

Some of the most popular symbols are:

• Heart symbol:  this represents love, compassion and health.
• Dove symbol:  this represents peace, love, and calm.
• Raven symbol:  this represents death and doom.
• Tree symbol:  this represents growth, nature, stability, and eternal life.
• Owl symbol:  this represents wisdom and intelligence.
• Dragon symbol:  this represents power, wisdom, strength, and mysticism.
• Butterfly symbol:  this represents rebirth, beauty, and transformation.
• Dog symbol:  this represents loyalty, protection, and companionship.
• Lion symbol:  this represents courage, leadership, and royalty.
• Fox symbol:  this represents slyness and cleverness.

But let’s face it: while we all know that a heart represents love, and a dove represents peace, we often need to visualize more practical concepts like “business growth”, “meeting agenda”, or “status update”. 

This in-depth guide dives deep into symbols and meanings that are  actually useful  (for all of your graphic design needs).

First, let’s talk about why symbols are so central to graphic design.

It’s always better to show than tell.

Symbols, used in combination with text and images, can make messages more meaningful and memorable than text alone and have been used throughout the history of marketing and design.

They have the power to cross language barriers, and can help you engage with your audience on a deeper level than is possible with just words.

Symbols can even be combined like words in a phrase to tell a powerful story, as seen in this creative flyer design :

Common symbols used in graphic design (and the real world) are:

• Arrow symbols: used to represent directions
• Cloud, rain, snow and sun symbols: used to represent weather
• Power, disk, wifi and bluetooth symbols: used to represent tech
• Wheelchair, information, bathroom and no-smoking symbols: used on different signs found in public places

Universal symbols like these are so commonplace that they’ve become so second-nature to us. We understand them immediately and intuitively…there’s simply no need for explanation!

Design Pro Tip: Find these symbols in the Venngage icon library under the following categories: “Arrows & Directions”, “Weather”, “Technology”, and “Signs”.

When used in graphic design, symbols and icons can help break up dense passages of text, making it easier to digest.

But symbols and icons are not just communication tools. Designers use stylized, illustrated icons to add flair to things like infographics and presentations for a custom-made feel. 

For example, the icon-focused presentation template shown below is a pretty creative presentation idea , with illustration-style icons dominating each slide:

Whether you’re creating an infographic, a presentation, a logo, or a website, visual symbolism can take your design to the next level.

Universal symbols and meanings: shapes and lines

Geometric shapes are the most basic symbols that carry meaning. 

While designers typically combine basic geometric shapes to create more complex, meaningful symbols, geometric shapes still hold meaning on their own.

Understanding the meaning of basic shapes is foundational to logo design and other forms of graphic design.

Related Reading:  Logo Design Tips to Take Your Brand to the Next Level

Here the 10 basic shapes and lines and their meanings:

• Circle: Completeness, cycles, continuation, playfulness
• Square: Stability, tradition, security, straightforward
• Triangle : Transformation, movement, balance
• Intersecting lines: Relationships, connectedness
• Spiral: Growth, evolution, transformation
• Five-pointed star: Excellence
• Arrow: Direction, movement, force
• Curved lines: Movement, connection, fluidity
• Diagonal lines: Tension, excitement
• Zigzag: Path, confusion

Curved lines and shapes tend to provide a sense of movement, fluidity, continuity, and informality. 

Shapes with hard corners and straight lines, in contrast, typically suggest stability and groundedness. 

Graphic designers use basic shapes and lines to:

• Organize information through grouping and separation
• Highlight important information
• Add texture and depth
• Create structure

Like in the infographic template below, the symmetry of geometric shapes is perfect for creating a sense of order and structure in a design.

Large structural background shapes (like the circle above) add subtle complexity. Background shapes can also convey something about the relationships within the content of the design–creating groups or suggesting separation between topics.

Shapes like circles and squares can also be added behind other icons and symbols, emphasizing important information and creating a sense of repetition and depth in a design.

In the list infographic below, layered borders and ovals make the icons a focal point. They feel like they’re popping out of the page, demanding your attention:

The type of shape used impacts the overall feel of the design. Comparing the mind map examples below, curved circles and lines create a playful, creative feel, while the stability of squares and rectangles make the design feel more traditional and professional.

Geometric shapes and lines are particularly critical in logo design, where basic shapes often form the essence of the logo. The logo below, for example, is a simple yet effective play on a rotated triangle:

If you take a look around you, you’ll likely notice many logo designs, like these ones from adidas, Google Drive, and Mitsubishi, that are based on simple geometric shapes.

Read our in-depth guide for more logo design tips .

Geometric shapes are just the start with it comes to visual symbolism. There are a great deal of common symbols with widely accepted meanings…everything from a dog representing loyalty to a raised first representing activism.

But when you’re designing a presentation, infographic, or report, you probably don’t often need symbols for such abstract concepts. 

Read on for some concrete symbol examples that should be helpful for designing documents for the workplace.

Symbols to represent communication, collaboration:

• Speech bubble symbol: used to represent speech and communication.
• People symbol: used to represent teamwork and collaboration.
• Mail/email symbol: used to represent messages and communication.
• Presentation symbol: used to represent learning and teaching.
• Handshake symbol: used to represent agreement and cooperation.

Communication is traditionally represented with speech bubbles or email symbols, but there is so much more room for creativity here.

One way to branch out is to find symbols that represent the specific mode of communication that you’re discussing, as seen in this project management plan :

Or, as seen in the communication symbol examples below, you can add a ton of variety to the mix by focusing on the human side of communication and showing the connections between collaborators.

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library: “communication”, “message”, “speech”, “work”, “teamwork”, “team”.

Symbols to represent business growth

Business growth is something you might need to visualize in a business growth proposal , a marketing plan , or a startup pitch deck . 

But because business growth means different things in different businesses, there isn’t one best way to represent business growth visually.

Common symbols used to represent business growth are:

• Plant symbol: used to represent growth, change, value, and positivity.
• Rocketship symbol: used to represent rapid growth or product launches.
• Up arrow: used to represent positive change.
• Graph symbol: used to represent trends.
• Dollar sign: used to represent money or revenue.

The slide template below, for example, uses four different symbols to represent a few different facets of business growth, including revenue, clients, and employees.

If you’re focused on increasing recurring revenue, you may wish to visualize business growth with cash symbols. If you care more about improving other metrics, you might use icons showing data trending upward.

Or you could take a metaphoric approach to showing business growth, like some of the business growth symbol examples below:

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library: “work”, “data”, “growth”, “incline”, “success”, “money”.

Symbols to represent design, art, creativity:

• Pencil symbol: used to represent drawing, sketching, and ideation.
• Shape symbols: used to represent abstraction, creativity, and graphic design.
• Browser symbol: used to represent user interface design.
• Color palette symbol: used to represent graphic design, art, and interior design.
• Lightbulb or brain symbol: used to represent brainstorming, creativity, and ideas.

When talking about design, there’s a bit of pressure for your design to be unique. This is the perfect place to think outside the box when it comes to symbolism.

A clever symbolism example is the use of an empty box icon to represent whitespace in the logo design-themed infographic below:

Talking about creativity is also the perfect time to branch out into funkier illustrated icon styles. Illustrations were all the rage 2019, and we think they’ll continue as a graphic design trend in 2020 , too.

Here are a few fun illustration-style design symbol examples from the Venngage icon library:

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:    “design”, “website”, “color”, “paint”, “draw”.

Symbols to represent safety, security:

• Hard-hat symbol: used to represent safety in the workplace.
• Lock symbol: used to represent data security in browsers and other digital products.
• Pylon symbol: used to represent physical safety and caution.
• Shield symbol: used to represent both physical and digital security.
• Umbrella symbol: used to represent protection.

One way to find unique symbols is to take the meaning you’re trying to convey from one context and use it in another context.

For example, using symbols for construction safety (like the ones below) in the context of tech security, or home security.

Or just stick to the traditional symbols for safety like the locks and shields seen in the security symbol examples below.

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:  “construction”, “safety”, “lock”, “shield”, “security”.

Symbols to represent alert, attention:

• Exclamation mark symbol: used to show emphasis, importance.
• Loudspeaker symbol: used to represent an announcement or alert.
• Hand symbol: used to indicate that stopping is required.
• Bell symbol: used to represent an alert or notification.

The classic symbol for attention is a triangle or diamond shape with an exclamation mark inside.

Other more unique attention-grabbing alert symbol examples are bells, alarms, red lights, loudspeakers, or even a simple circle with an exclamation point. Anything that screams “look at me” works well for this application.

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:   “priority”, “announce”, “alert”, “caution”, “warning”.

Symbols to represent metrics, research:

• Magnifying glass symbol: used to represent research and analysis.
• Graph symbol: used to represent trends and associations.
• Target symbol: used to represent goals.
• Microscope symbol: used to represent research and discovery.
• Gear symbol: used to represent work or progress.

When it comes to symbolizing metrics and data, the options are practically limitless. You could stick with the standard visuals showing charts and trends, but there is so much more out there.

Some of my favourites are the more intricate illustrated icons that combine magnifying glasses with data to show analysis in action, as seen in this advertising plan design:

Here’s just a small taste of the possibilities for symbols for metrics and research:

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:    “analysis”,“report”, “data”.

Symbols to represent goals, strategy:

• Target symbol: used to represent a goal or a success.
• Path symbol: used to represent a plan or procedure.
• Mind map symbol: used to represent planning, connections, or strategy.
• Checklist symbol: used to represent planning or strategy.

The tried and true way to symbolize goals is to use a target icon. Which is great, and all…but we can do better.

You could show progress to a goal with a partially completed checklist, like the one featured in the infographic below:

When it comes to visualizing strategy, consider using icons that show many connecting parts or a winding path to some target, as seen in these strategy symbol examples:

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:  “target”, “goal”, “objective”, “trend”, “strategy”.

Symbols to represent information, ideas, insight:

• Lightbulb symbol: used to represent invention, ideas, and creativity.
• Spreadsheet symbol: used to represent information and organization.
• Lightning bolt symbol: used to represent insight, clarity, and inspiration.
• Document symbol: used to represent knowledge and communication.

We have been using a lightbulb to represent ideas for ages. It’s effective, but probably a bit overused.

Some alternatives? Use sparks to represent flashes of insight, like the design below, use branched, connecting lines to show creativity, or combine the lightbulb with other symbols to create a scene.

Here are some more idea and information symbol examples with some variations on the simple lightbulb:

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:  “mindmap”, “mind”, “idea”, “list”, “about”.

Symbols to represent change, progress:

• Gear symbol: used to represent progress, work, and innovation.
• Curved arrow symbol: used to represent cyclicity or process.
• Checkmark symbol: used to represent success or show that goals have been met.

Outside of the business world, symbols to represent change are related to rebirth, renewal and transformation…symbols like the sun, the moon, and water.

The key to visualizing change in a professional context is to go way more concrete. Find symbols that show a beginning state and ending state, suggest movement, or show a path from one place to another.

Here are a few change and progress symbol examples to get you thinking:

Design Pro Tip: Try the following search terms to find these symbols in the Venngage icon library:   “sync”, “transition”, “change”, “progress”.

This just scrapes the surface of how creative you can get with symbolism in graphic design, but hopefully it’s enough to get you started. For more inspiration, check out our infographic icon design guide .

Use icons to reinforce key ideas

A powerful way of using icons in creative designs is to use icons to reinforce points you’d like your audience to latch onto.

Used this way, icons and symbols become visual cues that will guide your audience’s eyes towards important areas of your design. That’s why you’ll often see icons next to list items or infographic section headers, as shown below.

Get inspired by stylized, illustrated icons

An easy way to add character to an infographic (or other informal design) is to use more intricate, illustration-style icons as the core of the design. 

Start the design process by finding an icon style that you like, then simply pull colors from those icons for the rest of your design. This is a pretty foolproof way to create a unique, eye-catching design that’s still cohesive (like the infographic template below).

Use consistent icon styles

It’s critical that all of your icons match throughout any design or multi-page document. 

Combining mismatched icons, even if they look great on their own, is a major design faux-pas that is sure to turn off your readers.

Here is an example of a simple process infographic with a cohesive icon set that lends a clean, polished effect.

Designing formal documents like status reports and project plans requires a different approach than fun, creative designs like infographics. 

Use minimal, monocolor icons for a sleek, professional look

In formal documents it’s usually best to skip over the stylized, illustrated icons in favor of more minimal single-color icons and symbols. 

This will ensure your business proposals and pitch decks hit all the right notes in your next pitch meeting. 

Use symbols and icons to break up long passages of text

Symbols and icons are a useful tool for improving the readability of dense documents. Your readers will thank you if you intersperse some relevant visuals into any longer passages of text, giving them a place for their eyes to rest. 

Symbols and icons are essential to many website interfaces. Used properly, they can help guide users through a site, while saving screen space and making interfaces more visually appealing.

For symbols to be effective in a website interface, they must be:

• Easy to understand
• Unambiguous and universal
• Simple and compact

Users should be able to understand, without thinking, what that symbol means. If they can’t, this can lead to some serious usability issues.

It’s best to stick with glyph-style icons–icons that are ultra-simple and designed for use on the web. They won’t distract from the content of your website and they can be colored to match your brand style (just like InVision does, below).

The Venngage icon library is a go-to resource for all kinds of icons, from basic shapes and symbols to stylized illustrations. 

In the Venngage icon library you can find a wide variety of icons in 4 different icon styles:

• Outline/glyph icons: minimal, modern filled icons perfect for professional designs
• Colored icons: simple, geometric icons with a few colors
• Flat icons: 2D icons made with geometric shapes and bold colors
• Illustrated icons: detailed icons with distinct, illustrated styles

Just use the search function to find icons by keyword, then filter for the icon style of your choice!

The best part?

We’re always updating our icon library to include new icons. Check out our latest font and icon additions .

Get more information on how to work with Venngage icons in our how-to guide .

Discover popular designs

Infographic maker

Brochure maker

White paper online

Newsletter creator

Flyer maker

Timeline maker

Letterhead maker

Mind map maker

Ebook maker

• BPMN vs UML
• Business Process Analysis
• Business Process Modeling
• Capacity Planning Guide
• Case Management Process
• How to Avoid Bottlenecks in Processes
• Innovation Management Process
• Project vs Process
• Solve Customer Problems
• Spaghetti Diagram
• Startup Templates
• Streamline Purchase Order Process
• What is BPMN
• Approval Process
• Employee Exit Process
• Iterative Process
• Process Documentation
• Process Improvement Ideas
• Risk Assessment Process
• Tiger Teams
• Work Instruction Templates
• Workflow Vs. Process
• Process Mapping
• Business Process Reengineering
• Meddic Sales Process
• SIPOC Diagram
• What is Business Process Management
• Process Mapping Software
• Business Analysis Tool
• Business Capability Map
• Decision Making Tools and Techniques
• Operating Model Canvas
• Mobile App Planning
• Product Development Guide
• Product Roadmap
• Timeline Diagrams
• Visualize User Flow
• Sequence Diagrams
• Flowchart Maker
• Online Class Diagram Tool
• Organizational Chart Maker
• Mind Map Maker
• Retro Software
• Agile Project Charter
• Critical Path Software
• Brainstorming Guide
• Brainstorming Tools
• Concept Map Note Taking
• Visual Tools for Brainstorming
• Brainstorming Content Ideas
• Brainstorming in Business
• Brainstorming Questions
• Brainstorming Rules
• Brainstorming Techniques
• Brainstorming Workshop
• Design Thinking and Brainstorming
• Divergent vs Convergent Thinking
• Group Brainstorming Strategies
• Group Creativity
• How to Make Virtual Brainstorming Fun and Effective
• Ideation Techniques
• Improving Brainstorming
• Marketing Brainstorming
• Plot Diagrams
• Rapid Brainstorming
• Reverse Brainstorming Challenges
• Reverse vs. Traditional Brainstorming
• What Comes After Brainstorming
• Flowchart Guide
• Spider Diagram Guide
• 5 Whys Template
• Assumption Grid Template
• Brainstorming Templates
• Brainwriting Template
• Innovation Techniques
• 50 Business Diagrams
• Business Model Canvas
• Change Control Process
• Change Management Process
• Macro Environmental Analysis
• NOISE Analysis
• Profit & Loss Templates
• Scenario Planning
• What are Tree Diagrams
• Winning Brand Strategy
• Work Management Systems
• Balanced Scorecard
• Developing Action Plans
• Guide to setting OKRS
• How to Write a Memo
• Improve Productivity & Efficiency
• Mastering Task Analysis
• Mastering Task Batching
• Monthly Budget Templates
• Program Planning
• Top Down Vs. Bottom Up
• Weekly Schedule Templates
• Cash Cow Matrix
• Kaizen Principles
• Opportunity Mapping
• Strategic-Goals
• Strategy Mapping
• Strategy vs Tactics
• T Chart Guide
• Business Continuity Plan
• Developing Your MVP
• Incident Management
• Needs Assessment Process
• Product Development From Ideation to Launch
• Value-Proposition-Canvas
• Visualizing Competitive Landscape
• Communication Plan
• Graphic Organizer Creator
• Fault Tree Software
• Bowman's Strategy Clock Template
• Decision Matrix Template
• Communities of Practice
• Goal Setting for 2024
• Meeting Templates
• Meetings Participation
• Microsoft Teams Brainstorming
• Retrospective Guide
• Skip Level Meetings
• Visual Documentation Guide
• Visual Note Taking
• Weekly Meetings
• Affinity Diagrams
• Business Plan Presentation
• Post-Mortem Meetings
• Team Building Activities
• WBS Templates
• Online Whiteboard Tool
• Communications Plan Template
• Idea Board Online
• Meeting Minutes Template
• Genograms in Social Work Practice
• Conceptual Framework
• How to Conduct a Genogram Interview
• How to Make a Genogram
• Genogram Questions
• Genograms in Client Counseling
• Understanding Ecomaps
• Visual Research Data Analysis Methods
• House of Quality Template
• Customer Problem Statement Template
• Competitive Analysis Template
• Creating Operations Manual
• Knowledge Base
• Folder Structure Diagram
• Online Checklist Maker
• Lean Canvas Template
• Instructional Design Examples
• Genogram Maker
• Work From Home Guide
• Strategic Planning
• Employee Engagement Action Plan
• Huddle Board
• One-on-One Meeting Template
• Story Map Graphic Organizers
• Introduction to Your Workspace
• Managing Workspaces and Folders
• Adding Text
• Collaborative Content Management
• Creating and Editing Tables
• Adding Notes
• Introduction to Diagramming
• Using Shapes
• Using Freehand Tool
• Adding Images to the Canvas
• Accessing the Contextual Toolbar
• Using Connectors
• Working with Tables
• Working with Templates
• Working with Frames
• Using Notes
• Access Controls
• Exporting a Workspace
• Real-Time Collaboration
• Notifications
• Using Creately VIZ
• Meet Creately VIZ
• Unleashing the Power of Collaborative Brainstorming
• Uncovering the potential of Retros for all teams
• Collaborative Apps in Microsoft Teams
• Hiring a Great Fit for Your Team
• Project Management Made Easy
• Cross-Corporate Information Radiators
• Creately 4.0 - Product Walkthrough
• What's New

The Complete List of BPMN Symbols and Their Meanings

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standard for visualizing and designing business processes. It uses various symbols to represent different elements in a process. Here is a complete list of BPMN symbols along with their meanings.

Check out our guide on BPMN to learn about the Business Process and Modeling Notation in more detail.

What are BPMN Symbols

BPMN symbols are graphical elements used in BPMN diagrams to represent various aspects of business processes. These symbols provide a standardized and visual way to document, analyze, and communicate complex workflows and activities within an organization. BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) symbols can be categorized into several main types based on their functions in visualizing business processes.

1. Flow Objects in BPMN

Flow objects are symbols that represent elements in a business process that impact the flow of the process. They collectively help model the sequence of activities, events, and decision points within a business process. They provide a clear representation of how the process flows and the conditions or events that trigger different actions.

Events are key elements that represent occurrences or states within a business process. Events play a crucial role in modeling the flow of activities and defining how the process responds to external stimuli or triggers. There are three main types of BPMN events: Start Events, Intermediate Events, and End Events.

Start Events

Start events mark the beginning of a process. They represent the points at which a process is initiated. There are several types of start events, including:

• None start event : The process starts immediately without an external trigger.
• Message start event : The process is triggered by the receipt of a message.
• Timer start event : The process is initiated based on a predefined time or timer.
• Conditional start event : The process starts based on a specified condition.
• Signal start event : The process begins in response to the receipt of a signal.
• Multiple start events : Multiple events can trigger the start of the process, and any one of them can initiate the process.

Intermediate Events

Intermediate events occur between the start and end of a process. They represent points where something happens during the execution of the process.

• Message intermediate event : Represents the receipt or sending of a message during the process.
• Timer intermediate event : Represents an intermediate point in the process based on a timer or specific time.
• Conditional intermediate event : Represents an intermediate point based on a specified condition.
• Signal intermediate event : Represents the occurrence of a signal during the process.
• Link intermediate event : Represents the use of a link to connect different parts of the process.
• Compensation intermediate event : Represents the initiation of compensation activities in case of an error or exception.
• Error intermediate event : Represents an error condition during the process.

End events mark the conclusion or completion of a process. They represent the points at which the process finishes its execution. There are several types of end events, including:

• None end event : The process concludes without any specific result.
• Message end event : The process concludes by sending a message.
• Error end event : The process concludes with an error condition.
• Terminate end event : The process is terminated abruptly.
• Signal end event : The process concludes in response to a signal.
• Multiple end event : Multiple end events can be used to indicate various possible outcomes or results.

Activities are represented by various symbols to depict different types of work or tasks within a business process. The main BPMN activity symbols are:

• Task : Represents a unit of work that needs to be performed as part of the process. Tasks can be atomic (indivisible) or expanded into sub-processes.
• Sub-process : Represents a subprocess within the main process. Subprocesses allow for the decomposition of complex processes into smaller, more manageable components.
• Transaction : Represents a transactional subprocess, which is a specialized form of a subprocess. It makes sure that all enclosed activities are completed successfully or rolled back in case of an error.
• Call activity : Represents a call to a global process or a reusable subprocess defined outside of the current process. It is used for modularizing processes and reusing them in different contexts.

Activity Markers

Activity markers are symbols or icons added to BPMN activity shapes to convey additional information about the nature or behavior of the activity.

• Loop marker : Indicates that the associated activity or subprocess should be repeated in a loop until a certain condition is met.
• Parallel marker : Indicates that the tasks within a subprocess can be executed in parallel.
• Ad hoc marker : Indicates that the tasks within the subprocess can be performed in any order or repeated as needed.
• Compensation marker : Indicates that the activity is a compensation activity, and it is associated with handling compensation for a previous activity in case of an error.
• Sequential marker : Indicates that the tasks within a subprocess should be executed sequentially.

• Send task : Represents a task that sends a message or signal to another process or participant.
• Receive task : Represents a task that waits for a message or signal to be received before proceeding.
• User task : Represents a task that requires human interaction. It is typically performed by a knowledge worker or end-user.
• Manual task : Represents a task that is performed manually by a human, but it is less specific than a User Task.
• Business rule task : Represents a task that is based on business rules or decision logic. It is often used for decision-making within the process.
• Service task : Represents an automated task that is performed by a software service or system. It may involve communication with external systems.
• Script task : Represents a task that is performed based on a predefined script or script language. It is typically automated.

2. Gateways

BPMN gateways are symbols used to model decision points and control the flow of a business process. Gateways determine which path the process should take based on certain conditions or events.

• Exclusive gateway : Represents a decision point where only one of the outgoing paths can be taken. The decision is based on evaluating conditions associated with each outgoing sequence flow.
• Inclusive gateway : Represents a decision point where multiple paths can be taken based on evaluating conditions associated with each outgoing sequence flow. All paths with true conditions are taken.
• Parallel gateway : Represents a point where multiple paths can be taken simultaneously without evaluating conditions. It is used for parallel execution of activities.
• Complex gateway : Represents a more complex decision point where conditions and rules may involve a combination of logical operators. It allows for more sophisticated decision-making logic.
• Event-based gateway : Represents a decision point based on events. It is used when the process flow depends on the occurrence of specific events, such as receiving a message or a timer event.
• Exclusive event-based gateway : Similar to the event-based gateway, but enforces exclusive decision-making based on events. Only one path can be taken, depending on the first event to occur.
• Parallel event-based gateway : The occurrence of all subsequent events starts a new process instance.

3. Artifacts

Data symbols.

Data symbols represent the flow and handling of data within a business process. They help in visualizing how data is created, used, stored, and transferred throughout the process.

• Data object : Represents data or information used or produced within a process. It helps illustrate the flow of data between activities.
• Data input/output : Represents the input or output of data from an activity. It indicates the flow of data into or out of a task or subprocess.
• Data store : Represents a place where data is stored during the execution of a process. It can be a physical repository or a database.

Group, Annotation, & Association

• Group : Groups related elements in a diagram. It is often used to visually organize and highlight specific sections of the process.
• Annotation : Provides additional information or comments to enhance the understanding of the process. Annotations are often used to add explanatory notes or documentation.
• Association : Connects artifacts, data objects, or text annotations to flow objects, indicating a relationship or dependency. Associations help in clarifying connections between elements.

4. Conversations

Conversations are used to model interactions and communications between participants in a business process. Conversations provide a high-level view of how different participants, typically represented as Pools in BPMN diagrams, exchange messages and collaborate to achieve a common goal.

• Conversation : Represents a conversation or communication between different participants in a business process. It provides an overall context for the interactions.
• Sub-conversation : Represents a more detailed or nested conversation within a larger conversation. It is used to provide a more granular view of interactions within a specific part of the overall process.
• Call conversation : Represents a call or sub-process that is initiated from within a conversation to represent a more detailed interaction or subprocess.
• Conversation link : Represents a connection or link between different parts of a conversation or between different participants. It indicates that there is a relationship or interaction between them.

5. Connecting Objects

Connecting objects are symbols used to illustrate the relationships and connections between different elements within a business process. These connecting objects help define the sequence, flow, and dependencies among various BPMN elements.

Sequence Flow

Represents the order in which activities or events are performed within a process. It connects two flow objects, indicating the direction of process flow.

Message Flow

Represents the flow of messages between participants or pools in a process. It illustrates the communication paths between different entities.

Conditional Flow

Represents a flow in the process that is taken based on a specific condition or decision.

Default Flow

Default flow is the default branch to be chosen if all other conditions evaluate to false.

6. Swimlanes

Swimlanes are used to visually organize and categorize activities within a business process. Swimlanes are typically represented as horizontal or vertical partitions that divide the process diagram into sections, each corresponding to a specific participant, role, department, or system involved in the process.

Pools are used to represent separate organizational entities or participants in a process. Each pool can contain its own set of activities and processes, and communication between pools is depicted using message flows.

Lanes are subdivisions within a pool and are used to organize and categorize activities further. Each lane typically corresponds to a specific role, department, or system within the organizational entity represented by the pool.

7. Choreographies

Choreographies provide a way to model the interactions and collaborations between multiple participants or entities in a business process. Unlike traditional process diagrams that focus on the internal workings of a single participant, choreographies emphasize the communication and coordination between different entities.

Use BPMN Symbols with Creately

Now that you have a comprehensive idea of all the BPMN symbols, get started on creating a BPMN diagram . Creately offers a complete shape library of standard BPMN 2.0 shapes listed above for you to create accurate BPMN diagrams to represent your business processes. Effectively streamline visualizing processes with your team with Creately’s intuitive drawing tools and real-time collaboration.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

More Related Articles

Amanda Athuraliya is the communication specialist/content writer at Creately, online diagramming and collaboration tool. She is an avid reader, a budding writer and a passionate researcher who loves to write about all kinds of topics.

All About Business Process Mapping, Flow Charts and Diagrams

What are your requirements regarding bpmn diagrams, i want to create a bpmn in lucidchart., i want to create a bpmn diagram based on a lucidchart template..

Learn all about business process mapping and discover how you can effectively use it within your organization.

9 minute read

Would you like to create a BPMN diagram? Test Lucidchart - fast, easy, free.

What is business process mapping?

Business Process Mapping details the steps that a business takes to complete a process, such as hiring an employee or ordering and shipping a product. They show the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where” and “how” for these steps, and help to analyze the “why.” These maps are also called Business Process Diagrams and Business Flow Charts. Like other types of diagrams, these maps use defined symbols such as circles, rectangles, diamonds and arrows to depict the business activities.

Business Process Mapping can be used to document a current process and to model a new one. Its purpose is to gain a detailed understanding of the process, people, inputs, controls and outputs, and then potentially to simplify it all, make it more efficient and/or improve the process results. It requires time and discipline to conduct this mapping, but the payoff can be significant over time. Mapping has become common in the business world to standardize procedures, become more efficient, meet audit requirements and gain competitive advantage.

Business Process Mapping has its roots in the 1920s and ‘30s. In 1921, industrial engineer and efficiency expert Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr. introduced the “flow process chart” to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).  In the early 1930s, industrial engineer Allan H. Morgensen used Gilbreth’s tools to teach business people at his work simplification conferences how to make their work more efficient.  In the 1940s, two Morgensen students, Art Spinanger and Ben S. Graham, spread the methods more widely. Spinanger introduced the work simplification methods to Procter and Gamble. Graham, a director at Standard Register Industrial, adapted flow process charts to information processing. In 1947, ASME adopted a symbol system for flow process charts, derived from Gilbreth’s original work.

Current-day purpose and benefits

Business Process Mapping can be used to prepare for business audits or a sale, to reduce expenses, to plan for automation, to understand impacts of pending changes, to realign related processes, and to measure and realign the efforts of people involved in the processes. Often, a business may think it understands its processes, but then discovers twists and turns during a mapping initiative. When modeling a new business process, the mapping is sometimes called Business Process Modeling, or BPM. (That same acronym means Business Process Management, a related area.) For a more detailed look at Business Process Modeling, see this article.

Here are more specific examples of the uses of Business Process Mapping:

Compliance with International Organization for Standardization, called ISO 9001.

Internal audits., compliance with the 2002 sarbanes-oxley act, or sox., standardizing a process., training employees., improving a process., communication., business process mapping symbols.

Here’s one more important entrant in the acronym arena: BPMN. That’s Business Process Modeling Notation, the set of symbols and notations in common use today for modeling. It was developed by the Business Process Management Initiative. It depicts these main components of Business Process Diagrams:

Task or Activity:

Participant:.

Another important mapping concept is called swimlanes , which show who is responsible for specific work. Just like swimlanes in a pool, tasks are shown for a particular participant in a lane, or row, on the map.

Need more detail? See this article on BPMN .

How to do business process mapping

This requires a commitment of time and energy, but the payoff in understanding and analysis can be large. There are four major steps to a mapping initiative:

Identify the process.

Gather information., interview participants and stakeholders., draw the maps and analyze..

To conduct a significant mapping project, you will need to have a support structure in place first. As with any project, you would follow these steps:

Create a project charter or purpose statement

Have an executive sponsor, select the team, plan and conduct the mapping,.

In Business Process Management, the idea is to create a life cycle of continuous improvement. The steps are model, implement, execute, monitor and optimize.

Business Process Mapping is better for some types of processes than others. For example, it usually doesn’t lend itself to diagramming decision-making processes. High level, open-ended decision making often has too many intangibles and wild cards to effectively map. Business Process Mapping is better for the other two types of processes: transformational and transactional, both of which have more clearly defined activities. Transformational refers to processes such as manufacturing or systems development, which take inputs and change their forms, either physical or virtual. Transactional refers to an exchange such as a sales process or any other transaction.

As with any type of diagram, there are situations when another diagram method might be more fitting. For example, a Data Flow Diagram (DFD ), popularized by computing pioneers Ed Yourdon and Larry Constantine in the 1970s, is best at illustrating how information flows through a system or process. Value Stream Mapping (VMS) details the steps required to deliver a product or service. Items are mapped as adding value or not adding value from the customer’s standpoint, with the purpose of rooting out items that don’t add value. And Unified Modeling Language (UML) is used in software engineering to visualize the design of a system.

Key tips for business process mapping

• A skilled practitioner, such as someone trained in Six Sigma, can make a mapping project go much, much smoother. If you don’t have one in house, consider a consultant to work with your internal team.
• Identify metrics of importance. This will enable your mapping to speak effectively with data.
• Interview one or two people at time. If you interview in groups, some people might not speak up or might not want to contradict another person.
• As you interview, keep asking how, where and why. Such as: How do you spend most of your time, and why? Where in the process do you repeat work, and why? Do you ever skip steps? Why? Where are your pain points, and why?
• Be on the lookout for assumptions that may not be true. Keep asking questions until you reach the definitive answer.
• Validate your maps after you initially draw them by reviewing them with participants and your other data sources.

Drawing your map

For a simple process, you might start with Post-It Notes, a white board or a hand-drawn map. However, you might find yourself limited rather quickly as the complexity increases. With chart software, you can draw professional-looking maps that allow for more detail. You also will be able to do subsequent breakdowns with multi-level Business Process Maps, typically ranging from Level 0 (overall view) to Levels 1 through 4 for breakout detail of subprocesses, tasks and flows. Sometimes, a sequence table can be the best way to supplement a map by showing a series of steps. Map software will provide you with the shapes you’ll need to map out the process.

How to do mapping with Lucidchart

Helpful resources.

• Visio BPMN Stencil and Templates
• BPMN Event Types
• BPMN Diagram Symbols & Notation
• BPMN Activity Types
• BPMN Gateway Types
• BPMN & BPMN 2.0 Tutorial
• What is Business Process Modeling Notation

Lucidchart makes it quick and easy to build business process maps that can help improve efficiency within your organization. 

We couldn’t find any results matching your search.

Please try using other words for your search or explore other sections of the website for relevant information.

We’re sorry, we are currently experiencing some issues, please try again later.

Our team is working diligently to resolve the issue. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

News & Insights

Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) Unlocks Growth Plan for Future Success

May 30, 2024 — 12:21 pm EDT

Written by Zacks Equity Research for Zacks  ->

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. ZBH recently held its 2024 Investor Day and outlined its exciting long-term growth and value-creation plan as well as its strategic targets. The company provides a path for compelling and long term top-line growth, improved operational profitability, and increased free cash flow generation.

In the past five years, Zimmer Biomet experienced a significant metamorphosis, emerging as a more robust enterprise with promising prospects. Being a provider of orthopedics and medical technology, the company is committed to offering customer-focused solutions that optimize performance, lower safety risks and produce the best possible clinical results.

Growth Plan Details

One of the key highlights of the event was Zimmer Biomet’s long-range plan for 2024 through 2027. The company targets to achieve mid-single-digit percentage constant currency consolidated revenue growth, with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growing at least 1.5 times the revenue growth. ZBH intends to increase its free cash flow at a rate of at least 100 basis points faster than adjusted EPS.

The company also highlighted the drivers of Zimmer Biomet's value-enhancing opportunities, including delivering a new, compelling growth profile for driving above-market revenue growth.

To enhance shareholder value, Zimmer Biomet has also announced new capital allocation priorities. The company intends to return at least 65% of free cash flow to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Zimmer Biomet's board of directors also approved a new stock repurchase authorization that allows the company to repurchase up to $2 billion in ordinary stock.

Zimmer Biomet has also formed a cooperation with CBRE Group, to build and outfit orthopedic ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in the United States. This strategic agreement will harness the firms' respective core capabilities as leaders in healthcare technology and commercial real estate services to bring cutting-edge medical technology to more patients across the country.

Bottom Line

The company is leveraging its strong M&A capabilities and financial flexibility to make further strategic acquisitions. By expanding into markets with faster growth rates, the company can boost its Weighted Average Market Growth Rate (WAMGR) and accelerate sales in these sectors.

With a solid growth plan in place and strategic partnerships to support its endeavors, Zimmer Biomet is optimistic that it will continue to innovate, execute and deploy capital to maximize shareholders’ value as it moves forward from this position of strength.

Market Opportunities

Zimmer Biomet is a musculoskeletal healthcare company that designs, manufactures and markets orthopedic reconstructive products, sports medicine, biologics, extremities and trauma products, spine, bone healing, craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products, dental implants and related surgical products.  

Per the Grand View Research report , the global orthopedic implants market size was estimated at $25.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 3.7% from 2024 to 2030. The market is driven by the growing prevalence of reduced bone density, weakened bones, and musculoskeletal disorders.

Progress in Zimmer Biomet Business

Zimmer Biomet is strategically expanding its global presence to address the huge demand in the musculoskeletal space. This market is growing rapidly due to favorable demographics and growing utilization of musculoskeletal healthcare in emerging markets and under-penetrated developed markets.

The company is diligently working to strengthen its foothold in internationally developed and emerging markets that provide long-term opportunities for growth. Its strategic investments in these regions in the past several quarters to improve operational and sales performance are yielding.

Price Performance

In the past year, the stock has declined 8.9% against the industry ’s rise of 4.6%.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Zimmer Biomet currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Medpace MEDP , ResMed RMD and Encompass Health Corporation EHC .

Medpace, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), reported first-quarter 2024 EPS of $3.20, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 30.6%. Revenues of $511 million improved 17.7% from last year’s comparable figure. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Medpace has an estimated 2024 earnings growth rate of 26.5% compared with the industry’s 12.3%. The company’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 12.8%.

ResMed, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, reported a first-quarter 2024 EPS of $2.13, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.9%. Revenues of $1.20 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.9%.

RMD has an estimated fiscal 2024 earnings growth rate of 17.9% compared with the industry’s 15.7%. In each of the trailing four quarters, the company delivered an average earnings surprise of 2.8%.

Encompass Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of $1.12, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.4%. Net operating revenues of $1.3 billion topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.6%.

EHC has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 15.6% compared with the industry’s 11.7% growth. The company’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 18.7%.

Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

ResMed Inc. (RMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (ZBH) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Medpace Holdings, Inc. (MEDP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Encompass Health Corporation (EHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Stocks mentioned

More related articles.

This data feed is not available at this time.

Sign up for the TradeTalks newsletter to receive your weekly dose of trading news, trends and education. Delivered Wednesdays.

To add symbols:

• Type a symbol or company name. When the symbol you want to add appears, add it to My Quotes by selecting it and pressing Enter/Return.
• Copy and paste multiple symbols separated by spaces.

These symbols will be available throughout the site during your session.

Your symbols have been updated

Edit watchlist.

• Type a symbol or company name. When the symbol you want to add appears, add it to Watchlist by selecting it and pressing Enter/Return.

Opt in to Smart Portfolio

Smart Portfolio is supported by our partner TipRanks. By connecting my portfolio to TipRanks Smart Portfolio I agree to their Terms of Use .

We've detected unusual activity from your computer network

To continue, please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot.

Why did this happen?

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy .

For inquiries related to this message please contact our support team and provide the reference ID below.

• Notifications

No notifications to show yet

You’ll see useful information here soon. Stay tuned!

• Animated icons
• Interface icons

Are you sure you want to delete this collection?

We’re sorry you canceled your Premium subscription

You can still enjoy Flaticon Collections with the following limits:

• You can choose only 3 collections to keep
• You can only add up to 100 icons per collection
• You can’t add Premium icons to your collection

The advantages of your collections have changed

Keep making the most of your icons and collections

20% OFF our Annual Premium Plan

Select 3 collections to continue:

You have 8 collections, but can only unlock 3 of them

Report download

Please indicate what problem has been found. Thanks!

Base 64 encoded image

Copy the base64 encoded data and insert it in your HTML or CSS document. Need help? Maybe this link can help you

CSS background

Using it for the web? Copy this link in your website:

How to attribute for other media?

Don’t you want to attribute the author?

Going Premium is easy and it also allows you to use more than 15,842,000 icons without attribution. Find out more information here

Select a color from the icon

Choose a new color

Custom palette

• Remove color
• Remove palette
• You have exceeded the number of color samples for this palette

Select a shape

Stroke width

You can only save 3 new edited icons per collection as a free user. Upgrade to save unlimited icons.

Your collection is locked. You can upgrade your account to get an unlimited collection.

You have reached the icons limit per collection (256 icons)

This feature is only available for registered users. Login or register

This icon has a gradient color and cannot be edited.

Group search results

You can group your results by author style, pack, or see all available icons on your screen.

Planning Icons

Every good idea starts with a plan! Take a look at this assortment of plan icon designs suitable for your business projects. Whether it's financial or marketing, they will look great featuring in a PowerPoint presentation or website broadcasting your insightful business strategies!

• Delete filters

• Add to collection
• Copy to clipboard. Copying this asset counts as a download Copy to clipboard SVG PNG

Set your own limits

Gain access to over 15,842,000 icons in formats SVG, EPS, PSD & BASE64

Download what you want, cancel when you want

Related tags

Collection:

Over 15,842,000 icons for 8.25 USD /month

• No attribution required
• 15.8M icons & stickers in SVG, EPS, PSD & BASE64
• Unlimited downloads
• Browse ad-free

You must attribute the author

How to attribute for other media? How to attribute?

How likely are you to recommend Flaticon to a friend?

How about giving us a rating on Trustpilot

If you can spare a few minutes to leave us a review, we’d be super grateful 😃

Please visit: