Business Plan -Create a business plan. Ughhhh.
It’s hardly the most thrilling aspect of launching a business. In fact, if you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, you’ll definitely end up pulling a few all-nighters to finish one before walking into your first fundraising presentation. Because, let’s face it, your business strategy is very crucial.
Any funder worth his or her salt will demand to see it immediately away. A good business plan, on the other hand, is a dynamic document that will direct your efforts as your company expands. I recently published Mark Vital’s infographic 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups, which he developed for Funders and Founders.
Create a business plan. Ughhhh.
It’s hardly the most thrilling aspect of launching a business. In fact, if you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, you’ll definitely end up pulling a few all-nighters to finish one before walking into your first fundraising presentation. Because, let’s face it, your business strategy is very crucial.
Any funder worth his or her salt will demand to see it immediately away. A good business plan, on the other hand, is a dynamic document that will direct your efforts as your company expands. I recently published Mark Vital’s infographic 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups, which he developed for Funders and Founders.
A lot of those errors (indeed, the vast majority of them) are the product of bad planning. Bad location, a small niche, no specific user in mind, raising too much or too little money—all of these problems can be avoided or at least managed with careful preparation.
Developing a business plan entails more than simply putting your ideas on paper for potential investors to view. It’s an experimental process in which you can weigh your options, put your assumptions about your idea to the test, and even uncover new possibilities. It may even lead you to eliminate parts of your company before putting too much time or money into them.
That doesn’t mean you have to open Word and start again with the plan. A template is useful because you’re probably not doing anything new, so it gives a tried-and-true framework for your strategy. Almost everything on it may be personalised. To help you started, here are some detailed business plan templates that you can download for free:
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1. Score’s Startup Business Plan Template
Score is a non-profit organisation based in the United States that assists entrepreneurs in launching their businesses. Its template, which can be downloaded in PDF or Word format, has 150 questions and is generic enough to be customised for most types of enterprises. It comes with a resource called Refining the Plan, which is useful if this is your first time developing a business plan.
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2. Business Plan Engine of the United States Small Business Administration
The SBA has a template that you may fill out online and then save as a PDF. Don’t worry about having everything ready the first time you sit down to tackle it; you can go back in and change it as needed. It’s a large document, even broken down into sections, and it’s a slog to go through, but it generates a professional-looking and functional business plan. This is especially useful if your idea isn’t fully developed but you know you have homework to complete; it prompts you for details.
3. The One-Page Business Plan for a $100 Startup
Who says a business plan has to be a lengthy and difficult document? Some donors will demand a lot of information, which you can offer as appendices. The website for the best-selling book of the same name, The $100 Startup, includes a tonne of stripped-down resources for entrepreneurs, including this incredibly simple business plan template.
4. WYSIWYG Business Plan Template from LawDepot
This one claims that all you have to do is answer a few basic questions and you’ll be “done in no time!” Don’t be fooled. A business plan should take time and effort, but if you’ve already gone through that, LawDepot’s template is a good option. It guides you through the process of getting started, marketing, product development, competitive analysis, SWOT analysis, and more, with a pane below the input fields that displays the plan as you work. You can get it for free if you sign up for a trial membership, but you must cancel it within the first week if you don’t intend to use it.
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5. Business Plan Samples from the SME Toolkit
IFC and IBM have collaborated to create the SME Toolkit, which is a concise two-page description of what should be included in your business plan to meet the minimum needs of funders and tax authorities (in the U.S.). It is divided into ten divisions, each with a one-paragraph description, such as market analysis, management and organisation, and so on. An Excel file is also available for download on the same page to assist you with your financial estimates.
6. Countless Office Online Templates
Of course, Microsoft Office users have access to a plethora of business plan templates (along with birthday invitations). You can use one of Microsoft Office’s half-dozen or so PowerPoint templates to create a business plan presentation instead of a Word document. You’ll want to modify it with your company’s branding (you do, right? ), but it’s easier than beginning from scratch.
7. vFinance Inc. Business Plan Template and Guide
vFinance, a global financial services corporation, offers a free 30-page business plan template that has been downloaded more than a quarter million times, according to the company. No, it won’t be entirely unique, but vFinance understands what it’s doing, and the template is fairly comprehensive. The enormous Venture Capital Directory was created by VFinance, which modified the concept to appeal to funders. If that’s your goal, this one is a must-see.
8. Word, Open Office, Excel, or PowerPoint templates from Invoiceberry
Invoiceberry, a UK-based online invoicing software company, offers free business plan templates in.docx,.odt,.xlsx, and.pptx formats. There’s also a marketing plan and executive summary template in each one. However, there is a catch: before you can download the template, you must do one of three things: like it on Facebook, give it a +1 on Google+, or give it your email address. It’s a decent deal if you don’t mind doing that. Invoiceberry deserves credit for finding out this excellent lead-generation strategy as well.
9. The My Own Business Institute at Santa Clara University has big plans.
MOBI is a project of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. You can download each of the 15 business plan sections individually as Word documents from the site, or you can download them all in one document. There are also a number of additional useful tools, such as guidelines for analysing suitable sites, a list of essential people who should review your plan, and sample financial sheets.
