30 page business plan template
Writing a business plan can seem like an intimidating hurdle. You know that you need to put a plan together to start a successful business, but you find yourself staring at a blank Word or Google doc wondering what to do next. I recently did this for a new product my company is working on and was able to quickly figure out our strategic goals and what it would take for us to be successful. To write a business plan in 30 minutes, I use a process called Lean Planning to develop a much more useful Lean Business Plan. A Lean Plan is faster and easier to put together than a traditional business plan, yet it provides all the value of an old-school plan. You skip all the long-form writing and instead focus on short, simple descriptions of strategy and tactics.
Free Business Plan Template
Are you an entrepreneur looking to download a free business plan? If so, you have come to the right place. Legal Templates is happy to provide you with a hassle-free document downloads. Click the links below to download 1 a blank document, and 2 a document that is filled in for you to reference.
Download blank Business Plan template Word. Download a Business Plan with sample text Word. Each section gives an example of what you should write. Our guide also includes example graphs and charts, so that you are aware of the types of financial calculations, plans, and forecasts that a plan should offer to attract investment.
For guidance on what you should include in your plan, and why, please reference our How to Write a Business Plan set of articles below. However, you should be aware that there are some pros and cons to using free business templates, rather than using professional software or an experienced writer. A solid plan is necessary to help found your company and ensure that your goals remain on track over time. Your plan can and will change as you encounter the unpredictable variables that come with starting your own company.
Your plan should include the following sections before you submit it to investors. Click the chapter title to read a how-to guide for that chapter:. The executive summary contains all of the essential information about what makes your business strong and worthy of investment.
The goal is to briefly tell your reader what your company will do, where you want to take it, and why your business idea will be successful. Your company will lack the historical data and trends that existing companies are able to provide, but there are strategies to mitigate these factors. Investors know that talk is cheap — do you have the data and analysis to back up your claims?
Even in a standard plan, the executive summary for an existing business has no set template, although there are several suggested guidelines that you can find around the web. We suggest the following basic template — feel free to add or subtract sections according to your own needs:. Describe the purpose of the plan e. Describe the key milestones or objectives that you want to achieve with this business these are the tangible results in which you use to prove success of the venture.
Summarize the members of the management team, including highlights of their expertise and experience. Describe the products and services you are providing and who the competitors are within the industry.
Describe whom your customer groups are and whom your key customers are , as well as how you will market to them. Summarize the major points in the Marketing and Sales chapter, which may include market positioning, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Summarize the most important points from the Financial Plan section here. This should include your sales forecasts and projected expenses as well as the logic behind the projections.
Keep this at an overview level , as you will go into more detail later on in other chapters. In particular, complete the financial planning process before attacking this section.
Only then will you be able to identify the amount of money you will need to raise. Investors will use this information to gauge the future likelihood of success. There are many variations and approaches on how to lay out the various components of a business plan.
The optimal company type is best determined by a credible Attorney. The primer below is meant only to explain the broad differences between the most common company types. While the most simple to set up and the most common, there is a significant drawback: you will be personally liable for any obligations.
So for example, if you sell someone a cupcake and they sue you because they found a hair in it, and you lose in court, the creditors can legally go after your personal possessions — such as the roof over your head. Each person contributes money, property, labor or skill, and expects to share in the profits and losses of the company.
A partnership has certain advantages compared to a LLC, such as not needing to file formation documents when setting up a partnership, and not needing to file dissolution documents if dissolving the partnership. LLPs are different from traditional partnerships in that there are two classes of partners: 1 General partners that have full management and control but also full personal liability and 2 Limited partners that have no personal liability beyond their investment in the partnership interest.
A corporation is a separate legal entity owned by shareholders. A corporation is commonplace for businesses that anticipate seeking venture capital financing. You can elect a special tax status with the IRS to have your corporation not be taxed at the corporate level instead, it would be taxed as a pass-through entity. Explain your rationale — for example, if you are starting a company where you plan on seeking venture capital financing, then you will want to start a C-Corporation as majority of VCs will insist on this legal structure.
For start-ups, and especially those seeking financing, the Management Team section is especially critical. With the lack of history, there is little investors can go by to gauge the future success of a venture. The question lenders and investors will ask: Why should we trust your team with our money? To accomplish this, you should highlight:.
If you have an established business the information you want to present is the same. Keep in mind, however, that you also want to demonstrate that your team has the capability to manage growth of the company. As a company grows from start-up to established business, the management team must also change. In a publically trading company the Board of Directors is elected by the shareholders and is the highest authority in the management of the company.
For our purposes context of a private company that is most likely a startup or small but growing business , a Board of Directors is comprised of investor s , founder s , CEO and independent board member s who have substantial business and industry experience. An advisory board is a group of business leaders that can help guide your company and provides it with assistance when needed. Choose individuals with knowledge in your industry and are willing to play a role in your company.
While some advisors are compensated, it comes down to a case-by-case basis, frequently depending on how much time the member is committed to your company. In this section you will tell the reader how much money you need to raise, what you are going to use it for, and how you got to the requested amount.
Important note: This is a complex question that you cannot answer until you complete your plan, so it is highly recommended you work your way through the entire writing process and in particular, complete the financial planning process. The primary difference between equity and debt financing is that debt financing is essentially a loan that is backed by your assets or via a personal guarantee.
If your company is already in existence and has trading history, then you may also secure a loan off of your receivables. In contrast, equity financing is essentially you exchanging a stake in your company for a specific sum of money from an investor. Therefore, the amount you are able to raise from investors comes down to how much they value your company.
There are three fundamental questions every savvy investor will ask you:. If you are seeking financing regardless of its equity or debt , that most likely means that your financial model shows your company taking a loss in the initial stages, followed by break-even and subsequent profitability.
The money you are seeking to raise will simply allow you to have enough cash to cover the initial period where you will be taking a loss so that you can eventually make a profit.
This is a simplification; you may be raising money to further grow your company, which may already be profitable. Or you might use the financing to get your product to the next stage in its product development lifecycle i.
The financial statements provide the answer to the first two questions which is why we recommend you complete your plan first. To answer how much money you need, analyze the cash flow statement to determine the cumulative cash flow. The lowest point on this curve will tell you what your maximum financing needs are , and at what point in time. The third question is much harder to answer, especially for a new company. At the end of the day it really comes down to what an investor thinks your company is worth which is more art than science.
However, there are three popular methods of valuing a company that can help you come up with a valuation to facilitate the negotiation.
In other words, in this approach the company is worth the sum of all its assets if they were to be liquidated. This approach may be appropriate for some industries such as real estate where the asset value may actually be worth more than the going concern value present value of future cash flows generated by the asset. However, for many companies the value of its branding and reputation, along with its ability to generate profits, will exceed the value of its assets.
This is a common approach in the real estate industry. Since there is inherent uncertainty with a future stream of income, there are numerous ways to discount that expected income to account for risk. Now you have all the pieces to complete the equation. You have the amount of money you need by looking at cumulative cash flow. You also have an idea of how much money your company will be worth.
If raising debt, you are not exchanging equity for cash. Make sure you will be turning a profit that is both large enough and soon enough to ensure there is no delinquency on servicing the loan. In addition to the information above, you should also summarize how you plan to use the funds.
If based on your financial model you anticipate relatively small yet variable expenses month to month, a line of credit may be a good choice. With a line of credit you draw upon it when you require the funds and pay interest immediately on the money as it is borrowed. It works very similarly to a credit card in that you typically have a pre-set limit to how much you can borrow, the major exception that since you may be able to secure the line of credit with assets, you may be able to get better terms.
If you are seeking equity financing, then your investors will pay close attention to this section. Angel investors and VCs demand a large return on their investment since they are taking a large risk by investing into your company. Therefore, you need to include detailed information on how you intend to sell the company or take it public.
If investors are going to take a big risk, they demand a big return. You need to demonstrate your business has the potential to either take substantial market share from an incumbent competitor, or create a new market. Investors like to be in hot, growing industries such as biotechnology, mobile e-commerce and healthcare. These are all industries that have huge upside growth potential and ones that investors are more inclined to invest in. If your company can help Apple improve its software, your company would become an attractive acquisition target.
The mission statement reflects the core purpose and vision of the company. It is a pharmacy retailer and it will solely focus on making itself easier for the customer to use that could mean so many things, such as innovating online to fulfill prescriptions to improved customer service within their stores.
Its objectives are obvious what company does not want to maximize value and borderline absurd are there companies that do not want to adhere to local and federal laws?
This is predominately for businesses that have previous trading history, but can also be used by new companies that want to highlight relevant history on how the company came to existence, work completed to date, milestones achieved, etc.
Buy 30 Pages Business Plan Template by ExtendGraphics on GraphicRiver. expert, and on this page you'll find a comprehensive list of the very best of them. It can provide a guideline so you're not stuck looking at a blank page trying to figure out where to start. Plus, it shows you the general layout of a standard business.
Think you have a great idea for a business? The simple business plan template presented here will get you started. A standard business plan consists of a single document divided into several sections including a description of the organization, the market research , competitive analysis , sales strategies , capital and labor requirements, and financial data.
Looking for free sample business plan templates?
Writing a one page business plan instead of a hundred-page, in-depth business plan no one will ever read has become a popular and efficient way to get your small business moving in the right direction. This article is meant to be an all-inclusive resource for anyone wanting to write their own one page business plan and use it to actually start a business.
How to Write a Business Plan in 30 Minutes
Bplans offers more than free sample business plans in a wide variety of industries. If you're looking for a tool to walk you through writing your own business plan step by step, we recommend LivePlan , especially if you're seeking a bank loan or outside investment and need to use an SBA-approved format. How do you know what elements need to be included in your business plan, especially if you've never written one before? Looking at examples can help you visualize what a full, traditional plan looks like, so you know what you're aiming for before you get started. You don't need to find a sample business plan that's an exact fit for your business.
Business Plan Template for a Startup Business
Writing a traditional business plan can seem like a daunting task, and lots of entrepreneurs avoid it for this reason. An easy way to start is with just one page. The one page business plan is a simplified version of traditional operational plans that focuses on the core aspects of your business. While it may be a shorter business plan, it still follows the structure of a standard business plan template and serves as a beefed-up pitch document. The only real possible difference is that a single-page plan must absolutely fit on one page in a font 11 or 12 pt type that most people can still read. A Lean Plan can be slightly longer but still uses summaries and bullet points, while a traditional executive summary can extend to two or three pages—and it will usually use full sentences rather than bullets. However, by starting with a one page plan, you give yourself a minimal document to build from, making it much easier to elaborate or expand sections into a longer form business plan. These same reasons extend to the one page model, but it includes a handful of additional benefits to keep in mind. You can quickly send it as an email attachment, throw it into a slide deck and even have it printed off as an easy read for interested parties. Here are the eight necessary sections to include when developing your one page business plan.
Conventional wisdom would have us believe that a business plan needs to consist of 30 pages complete with bar graphs and pivot tables.
By making some simple design choices, you can create reports that actually engage your readers. A well laid out, beautifully designed report can make a great impression on stakeholders—and can help make the information easier to understand! You could open up Google doc, record your metrics and make a few points of analysis, send it to your team and call it a day.
How to Create a Simple, Effective One-Page Business Plan (Use This Free Template)
Are you an entrepreneur looking to download a free business plan? If so, you have come to the right place. Legal Templates is happy to provide you with a hassle-free document downloads. Click the links below to download 1 a blank document, and 2 a document that is filled in for you to reference. Download blank Business Plan template Word. Download a Business Plan with sample text Word. Each section gives an example of what you should write. Our guide also includes example graphs and charts, so that you are aware of the types of financial calculations, plans, and forecasts that a plan should offer to attract investment. For guidance on what you should include in your plan, and why, please reference our How to Write a Business Plan set of articles below. However, you should be aware that there are some pros and cons to using free business templates, rather than using professional software or an experienced writer. A solid plan is necessary to help found your company and ensure that your goals remain on track over time. Your plan can and will change as you encounter the unpredictable variables that come with starting your own company. Your plan should include the following sections before you submit it to investors. Click the chapter title to read a how-to guide for that chapter:. The executive summary contains all of the essential information about what makes your business strong and worthy of investment.
500+ Free Sample Business Plans
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