wing up m start a new business can be fun and invigorating. But actually writing a business plan an cause the most gerentrepreneur to succumb to prolonged fits of snoring. And that's a real problem because, without a good business plan, u won't actually get to run the business—at least not for long.
Palo Alto Software has developed a Web site, designed to help you tadde just one small part of your business plan at time Bplans.com asks a few general questions about your prospective business. Then it points you toward business plans, fired online, for companies that are at least somewhat similar to yours. You can jump right in from there, downloading nple plans. Just don't use them as a crutch to avoid the sort of hard thinking that writing a business plan should prompt
After reviewing a few =pie plans, you may decide to try out the "Mini Business Planner," which offers guidance in ling one small chunk at a tine. If you follow the template, your plan will be quite repetitious—but at least you won't re anything out The site provides online calculators to figure out startup costs and how long it will take to break even. tr. plan-in-progress it stored on the Bplans.com site, and you an have it e-mated to you at any time.
Bplans.com encourages users to submit questions online, windi one of the site's small business consultants will take a ng at answering. Note that a very general question will get a very general answer—one that may not go into the sort detail you need. Case in point One business owner was having trouble financing his company's growth because suppliers e demanding quick payment while customers dragged their feet The annuitant gave some tips for getting money out of at but didn't mention lid:wing—the practice of selling receivables at a slight discount in exchange for money up front
Bplans.com lads a good overview of the whole business plan process. Before you start writing, it would be helpful to w, for maniple, that investors will likely read the executive summary and management bias before anything else. If those ions don't sparfde, the rest of your plan probably won't get a second look. Sunbriy, you should know that skimping on
onmpetition section of your plan--or, worse, declaring that you have no competition at immediately ruin your %Big. for those sort of tips, head over to SOTOUWANNA.COM and find "So You Wanna Write a Business Plan." Read the le thing, get inspired, and pull out those financial projections. Then head over to Bplans.com, and start writing.
rem tdaptml from Uteri, Weisdllie Write Stuff for Tour Business Plan: BminessWeek mine, httpirmbusinameekcom, November 20, 2000.