Develop Your Business Plan
An effective business plan serves at least four useful purposes:
- It helps you focus your ideas.
- It creates a track for you to follow in the early stages of business growth.
- It creates benchmarks against which you can measure progress.
- It provides a document for attracting equity or debt financing.
The business plan brings together the goals, plans, strategies, and resources of a business. By developing a comprehensive plan prior to commencement of operations, it can minimize risk and may save you from significant financial and professional losses resulting from an unprofitable business.
Organize and prepare your plan so that it meets your style and needs as well as the needs of those who will read it. If you are still in the concept phase, you may want to consider using the Business Model Canvas (see below) or similar tool. If you are moving forward, a formal business plan is a good way to stress test your venture.
Business Plan Outline
Download our free business plan outline. Let this serve as a step-by-step guide to help you gather and evaluate your thoughts and develop your plan.
You can also find more details about business plans in our Business Start-Up Guide.
Other Business Plan Resources
