Do you have any free resources available to help me start a business?

Answer

We have several free resources for you, all intended to guide you through the process of developing your business plan and getting it financed. This is aside from the Business Plan Pro software, which we recommend, but isn’t free.

First, the book Hurdle: the Book on Business Planning is now posted on the Web for free at www.bplans.com, in a Web format that you can read for free by clicking through it using your Web browser on the Internet. That’s the complete book, word for word and all the illustrations that you get when you buy the book for about $20 at amazon.com or at www.paloalto.com. That same book is also included with the purchase of Business Plan Pro, but you can read it free on the web.

Second, the website at www.bplans.com has a series of articles — several dozen — on details of writing a business plan, and another set on starting a business, and others on related topics, like start-up financing. The articles are available from the front page, just click the links for lists of articles.

Third, that website also has more than 100 sample business plans.

In addition, also on that same website and free, there’s a starting costs feature to estimate your starting costs. It also has an ask-the-expert feature with more than 1,000 pages of questions and answers.

One of the most important elements there are the more than 100 sample plans, so you can see some samples of what a finished business plan would look like. All of the plans on that site are available on the Web for free, and they all were approved for money in one way or another, so they’re worth looking at.

Don’t look for a sample plan you can just pick up and call your own, because every business is unique and every business plan is unique. Look instead for a good example of what’s included, and what’s involved in doing the plan.

Business Plan Pro is a software tool for developing a business plan, available for about $100, at www.paloalto.com and in stores. It includes more than 500 sample plans, including the 100+ at www.bplans.com, all of which can be edited as your own. You can get a list of those plans at www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans.cfm.

Tags: business plan, free resources, start-up, Starting a business

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