Best Place to how to create a business plan?

[Bemyownboss]

Hey everyone. I know this has probably been asked dozens of times, and I probably responded a few times, but I have not been as successful woth my business as I would like to be. So, I in a sense have decided to look to create a new business plan, and produce better results now that I have learned my current plan was not created well enough.

So I am asking of any links of places I could go to find an area that helps you create a top notch business plan. Even if it is a site that has business plan examples, which I could study and learn to put together a plan for my business. Thanks soo muhc in advance for any and all help.

Sincerely,

Jason

[postman da rich kid]

honestly. i would just take bus admin in a community college. thats wat i did. because just writing a business plan is one thing, but understanding it is another. sorry if i couldnt help with exactly your asking but i dont know of any links. i know there is a software you can buy that lets you just type in the info and it formulates the business plan for you.

[R.A.W]

Hey Jason.

I found a website the other day actually which went over all of what you are asking and more. It was a free 27 day email course which told me step by step what to do next. So far its been really great for my business and im excited to see what is coming up next.

The website was www.OfficialBusinessBuddy.com

I suggest giving that a look

I hope this helps.

Regards
Rory

[BoiseStartup07]

The problem with many of the commonly posted links to "Business Plan How-To" sites is that most of this information is generalized for mass consumption. Most entrepreneurs don't fit into the mold of the masses, but rather feed off of their individual styles. Your definition of a short term goal will NOT be another entrepreneur's idea of a short term goal. These business plans online are too restrictive for free-flowing ideas. The most realistic option for an entrepreneur's attempt at a business plan is to simply "WRITE EVERYTHING THAT IS IN YOUR HEAD THAT RELATES TO YOUR BUSINESS. EVERYTHING.". I didn't write a structured plan with an index, nor did I have neatly organized pieces of market research placed into a coherent, convincing plan. I had a lot of ramblings, simple ideas, quirky marketing strategies. I had many random things in my head that really weren't that random. They all had to do with my business, and they were all important, and THEY ALL WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN REALIZED HAD I NOT DECIDED TO WRITE THEM DOWN RIGHT THERE AND THEN. If it hits you, no matter where you are, you have to write it down. This is an absolute. If you start to introduce this habit into your daily life, you will be instantly surprised at how much more productive your days feel. You'll feel like you're moving towards your business goals at a faster, smoother rate. The change is obvious, and the change is impactful. Try this, and leave all of the business plans online be. They are no good unless you particularly feel safer NOT thinking outside of the box. Seeing that you're posting on the YoungEntrepreneur forums, I highly doubt that is the case. Hopefully this advice helps. I will tell you honestly that doing this one simple thing is what made me successful in what I do. I'm naturally too disorganized, or too busy or lazy to tackle such a daunting task as writing a business plan (BORING!). Don't do that to yourself. Write all those ideas down, anytime they pop into your head.

PM if you've got any more questions, I'm always here to help!

[benoitb]

I recommend getting a "The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans" by Garrett Sutton, Esq.

[MsNadi]

:sigh:

Have you done any Google Searching?? There are sooooo many business plan templates out there that range from outlines to completed plans. There are sites like www.bplans.com that provide outlines - that I found not to be helpful. There's also www.businessplanarchive.org - a program ran through John Hopkins University that provides an archive of ACTUAL small business documents (business plans, executive summaries, financials, contracts etc) and the good thing is it allows you to see whether or not the funding was successful.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers also has a site dedicated to entrepreneurship. Fill out the details and you will get a link to an ACTUAL business plan that was completed with the assistance of PWC. http://www.pwcv2rform.com/cgi-local/...busplexmpl.pdf

Business plans, as a document, are simple. Understanding what is expected of your business plan is the hard part - and a lot of that comes from understanding WHY you are creating one.

Why are you making a business plan? Sounds like a dumb question, but Guy Kawasaki, in his "Art of the Start" in many situations recommends getting started BEFORE writing a business plan. The "Stop analyzing and GO DO!" approach to business.

You need to understand why you're writing a busienss plan. once you've got that understood, finding sample plans online that fit your concept isn't difficult.

Check our blog - we did a post on business plans and included some outlines for ONLINE businesses (internet businesses require different business plan elements).

It might not be necessary for you to create an entire plan - you might just need a plan presentation (for pitching purposes) or certain elements (the market analysis but not the customers profile).

Do your homework! It'll prevent a lot of re-work and wasted time. :sigh: We know ALL about that.

[paul2145r]

Well, I first learned about writing business plans on the net. Search Yahoo, Google, and any other search engine, and you'll find helpful information. My consulting firm has dealt with plenty of business plans, so let us know if you need help!

[Bemyownboss]

Hey everyone thanks for all your input so far. I really do see and look at all the aspects of business plans you are shooting my way. I have plenty to think about and other sites to go check out.

RAW- Sorry but I don't see how that site can help me. I entered my email adress, but when I got to the site, didn't impress me too much as too what I would want in a business plan. Thanks for the attempted help. I appreciate it.

[RnO]

Once you have figured your goal for writing your plan (rationalizing your idea, articulating your vision etc), you can use Business Plan Pro which is a pretty good software, most importantly because:

1: It segements every part so you can use what you want
2: Has easy wizards to create financial charts
3: ****has examples for each part of the plan for companies similar to yours***

Just an idea, hope it helps.

[R.A.W]

Hey Jason.

Thats fine.

That website did help me alot, but of course it wont be for everyone.

I hope you find something useful for you out there!!

Regards

[MsNadi]

Don't use software. It's a waste of money. Business Plans aren't hard once you realize why you're doing it and who you're intended audience is.

[Eric E.]

I just wanted to maybe add something that would help to keep your advertising budget down. You might want to have a look when yoiu get a chance. It is definitely helping my production after doing a lot of the wrong things.

[mary anne]

I don't know of any sites that could be of great help to you. I never used sites for business plans as references for the business plans we made. Besides, almost all business plan how-tos in the internet says the same thing, only in different ways.

What I would suggest you do is that you learn from what happened to your old business plan. If there's one thing that I got from reading many hw-tos in the internet about business plans, it's that YOU WILL NEVER BE FINISHED WITH THE BUSINESS PLAN. It's an ongoing thing where your first have this idea, then if it backfires, you formulate another idea, make changes and adjustments in our business plan, and go from there again.

yake every factor into consideration -- your business, your location, etc., most of all your target market and how to reach them.