Microsoft offers numerous business plan templates for Office users, but if you’d rather create a business plan presentation than a Word document, you can download one of Microsoft Office’s half a dozen or so PowerPoint templates for just that purpose. A second download of the same page is an Excel file to help further with your financial projections. It also provides a one-paragraph explanation of each.
the template contains 10 broad sections such as the market analysis, management and organization, etc. The SME Toolkit, jointly offered by IFC and IBM, offers a simple two-page outline of what should be included in your business plan in order to meet the minimum requirements of funders and tax authorities (in the US).
The template can be downloaded for free with a trial subscription, but you need to remember to cancel it within the week if you don’t plan to continue using it. The template will walk you through getting started, marketing, product, competitive analysis, SWOT and more, with a window below the input fields to show the plan as you work at it. Business plans should take time and a lot of research, but if you’ve already implemented that, than LawDepot’s template is a good choice. LawDepot claims its template only requires you to answer a few questions, and that you will be “done before you know it!” However, you shouldn’t believe it. LawDepot’s WYSIWYG Business Plan Template The $100 Startup is the website for the best-selling book of the same name, that provides numerous stripped-down resources for entrepreneurs, including a super simplified business plan template. Some funders want to see a lot of detail, but you can provide that in appendices. Not all business plans have to be long and complicated. The $100 Startup’s One-Page Business Plan The template is also helpful if your idea isn’t fully together, as it will prompt you for more information. However, it produces a professional-looking and useful business plan. Although the template is broken down into sections, it is a long document and can take some time to get through. You will have the ability to go back in and edit as needed, so you won’t have to worry about having everything ready the first time you sit down to write the plan. The SBA offers a template that is available to fill out online, or downloaded as a PDF. US Small Business Administration Business Plan Engine It also comes with a Refining the Plan resource that is extremely helpful, especially if this is your first time writing a business plan.
Score offers a template, available in both PDF or Word download, that asks about 150 questions, and is easy enough to customize for most types of businesses. Score is an American nonprofit dedicated to helping entrepreneurs get their companies off the ground. Score’s Business Plan Template for Startups If you don’t have any available time, however, you can hire a reputable business plan writing firm to build a plan from the ground up, such as Go Business Plans.īelow, you will find comprehensive business plan templates that can be downloaded for free to get you started. When using a template, you are able to utilize a proven and simple structure for your plan. This doesn’t mean to download Microsoft Word and start the plan from scratch you have access to multiple options, such as templates. Writing a business plan may also lead you to kill off aspects of your business, before investing too much time or money in them.
With good and strategic planning though, any issue can be prevented or at least mitigated.Ĭreating your business plan is more than collecting your ideas down on paper for potential funders to read – it’s an exploratory process where you can evaluate your options, test your assumptions about your idea, and even discover new opportunities.
Common examples include bad location, a marginal niche, having no specific user in mind, raising too much or too little money and more. However, many mistakes can occur during the business plan writing process – usually as a result of poor planning. Why? Because business plans are crucial.Īny funder will want to see the business plan right off the bat, as it portrays the solid document that will continue to guide your efforts as your business grows. Writing a business plan? If so, many can say that it’s not the most exciting part of starting a business, considering you can be pulling a few all-nighters to get your business plan ready for your first funding pitch.