In Steps 1 and 2, I advocated getting lots of advice - from free publicly subsidized sources, from the internet, and from the marketplace. Now, I'm going to be an advocate for business planning. BUT - it is not necessarily a one size fits all deal. Simply put, a business plan is nothing more than a systematic, thoughtful consideration of the key aspects of your business, from marketing to capital, from costs to produce to employees. I recommend it first and foremost to do it for yourself. It also is a critical document and/or slide deck when you're trying to raise money...either from a bank or investors. So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite resources for business plans and business planning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMr_uLZV-eM
- SBA - How to Write A Business Plan (SBA's 3 min. overview video, embedded above)
- Wikipedia - Business plan (good written overview of what a business plan is)
- SBA/Palo Alto - Developing a Successful Business Plan (free online course given by Tim Berry)
- Sequoia Capital - Developing a Business Plan (three articles w/Venture Capital perspective)
- StartmeUpVideo - Examples and Best Practices of Business Planning (15 min. interview with Tim Gedeon)
- docstocTV - 10 Key Questions to Address: Business Plans (9 min. video on key bullet points of business plans/planning)
- UC Berkeley - How to Write a Business Plan (hour long video presentation from 2010 on nuts and bolts)
- SBA - How to Write A Business Plan (content hub for components of business plan; each section has other articles...good)
- SBA - Create a Business Plan (place to register to get access to SBA's free Business Plan Tool)
- SBA - Two Sample Business Plans (two sample plans, have to cut and paste the first link, but it works)
- Forbes (Patrick Lull) - 10 Essential Business Plan Components (blog post, very brief overview)
- Inc (Elisabeth Wasserman) - How to Write a Great Business Plan (more detailed overview, further links allow to go deeper)
- Inc - How to Structure a Business Plan (content hub with links to 30 relevant articles)
- Inc - Business Plans (Pinterest-type links to all articles in Inc relating to business planning)
- Bplans - Business Planning Guide (Palo Alto Software's content hub, 500+ templates, free tool, detailed instructions)
- Wikihow - How to Write a Business Plan (medium level of detail, 2 min. video overview)
- SCORE - Business Planning and Financial Statements Template Gallery (more than 30 resources)
- Entrepreneur - Business Plan Templates (20+ downloadable resources)
- Entrepreneur - Top 10 Business Plan Mistakes (self explanatory)
- WSJ - Why Business Plans Don't Deliver (post on 5 most common flaws in business plans)