Does anyone know how to write a Business plan?

Question

I would like to(someday) open my own business. I have a name and floorplan kind of mapped out in my head, however, i still need a business plan of some sort before I even try for that SBA loan.

Answer 1

SBA is a lender of last resort, so they won't talk to you until you can demonstrate that you have been turned down by conventional financing sources (banks,etc.)

As to writing a business plan, this is more of an art (and a dark one at that). There is a horde of consultants out there that charge thousands of dollars for writing a business plan. There are also companies that market software to assist you in business plan writing; Palo Alto Software is probably the best known. You can look at some sample business plans they have here:

http://www.paloalto.com/ps/bp/samples.cfm

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Answer 2

You don't need a business plan as yet. You need a business idea. It seems you have this vague wish to start a business, which you still do not know what.

Start with the business concept. The research if it is something that will actually work. Then you start thinking of writing a business plan

Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:

- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html

You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:

- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
- VFinance - View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_m.asp
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
- SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/businessPlan.pdf
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_FE/display&c=GuideFactSheet&cid
- Business Plans Index - A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/bplansindex.html

Some recommended books are :

- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan

Hope that the above resources help

Answer 3

Try the following sites.

Answer 4

If you send me an email to [e-mail] I'll send what you need to include in your plan Cheers John.