If you’re looking on info on how to write a business plan, Small Business BC’s Business Plan Resources PDF has a lot of great links to excellent resources.

Two of the top resources from that list are bplans.com and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation.

You can get some free sample business plans and advice at www.bplans.com. And if you have $20 a month to spend (if you write your plan in a month it would be only $20), try liveplan.com. Liveplan.com is operated by bplans.com and has an interactive online planner that will help guide you through the process with both written materials and videos.

CYBF, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, has a free business plan guide and webinar series.

If you are actually ready to write the plan, I’d probably opt for liveplan since it is designed to be user friendly and have tips to help you along the way. For $20, it is not much of a business expense or risk. They also have a 60 day money-back guarantee, so really quite riskless.

Anyways, what I really wanted to talk about was why write a business plan.

Write the business plan for you

A business plan is supposed to be a guide or a map to what your business is and where it will be going. In the process of writing a plan, this will get you to think more deeply and critically about the business. You’ll have to ask and answer questions such as:

  • What is the business about?
  • What is unique about the business?
  • What are the business goals?
  • How will the business grow?
  • How much money will the business make?
  • What kind of financing does the business need?

Those are a small sampling of questions, and then may seem simple, but a lot of people don’t even think, let alone, write about those questions. By writing a business plan, it will give your business a direction and a purpose.

The thing about business plans is that real life never really goes according to plan and your plan is out-of-date the moment you write it. Things always change, and as a small business, you need to be flexible enough to accommodate those changes.

That’s why I personally review my plan each month and do a yearly update. That time gives me a chance to step back from the day-to-day and see how I’m tracking against my goals. It also either re-focuses me on the goal of my business or helps provide me with new direction.

Write a business plan to get money

If you are looking for money from a bank or investors, they almost always require a business plan. If you ever plan on getting money from some place or persons other than yourself or close family and friends, you’ll need a plan.

Write a business plan for your partners

If you are working with others in your business, having a plan will set out a shared and agreed upon plan to what all of you will be trying to do with the business. It will help clear any ambiguities or misconceptions.

Write a business plan if you are going to sell your business

If you’re going to sell your business, this will almost definitely require a business plan with solid financial statements.

Most important parts of a business plan

I find that the two most significant parts of a business plan is marketing and financials. I think most people have a good idea of how to operate their business and who will be involved.

How to market your business and what kind of money it’ll make… that seems to be weak points for people with no business training or experience that I see looking to start a business.

If there is anyone who is considering giving you money, trust me, financials is one part of the plan they will always look at closely, since at the end of the day, the goal of a business is to make profits.

And, you won’t be getting money unless people know about your business, so that’s where marketing comes into play.

The crappy thing about both the financials and marketing for a new business, is that you have no data to back up your strategies, projections, or numbers. You will only truly be able to say anything credible about these sections if you’re talking about you company’s past performance.

Last tip

You don’t need to have a business background to write a business plan. As mentioned above, there are free and rather cheap resources that will help guide you along the way. Honestly, unless a business person specializes in writing business plans, they are no expert either.

You should also get business people to review your plan. Preferably people in your industry or people with specialties that can judge those different aspects of your business (like a marketing specialist to assess your marketing plan or an accountant to assess your financial plan). People in your industry have done it before and can help you see if what you are planning seems realistic or not.