Writing a business plan for dummies

[minestrone]

Does anyone know of any good resources on how to write a business plan? Possibly tailored to online startups?

There seems to be a bit of interest now in Plan B from investors but not having a plan with projections is obviously going to be a total stumbling block.

Thanks

[JoJoGabor]

There are various organisations that should be able to help with this. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a flyer for the E-club which is an entreprenerial club - that might be a good start. Or maybe ask a small business advisor at a bank. You may decide not to go down this funding route, but they could point you in the right direction

[RichardCranium]

Business Link was set up for this kind of purpose. A colleague and my wife both found them very good. Someone on here found the useless.

Suck it and see - it is free.

[PM-Junkie]

Does anyone know of any good resources on how to write a business plan? Possibly tailored to online startups?

There seems to be a bit of interest now in Plan B from investors but not having a plan with projections is obviously going to be a total stumbling block.

Thanks

If you want to throw a little money at it (about £130), I can recommend business plan pro - I've used it a couple of times when time is very short, and with a little tailoring it can produce an impressive doc.

[chris79]

If you want to throw a little money at it (about £130), I can recommend business plan pro - I've used it a couple of times when time is very short, and with a little tailoring it can produce an impressive doc.

I'll second that - I've heard good reviews of this from reliable sources.

[Menelaus]

I downloaded a freebie from MSOnline and spent about eight hours on it... it's up to v1.3 now and RBS seem to like it.

[mace]

Business Link

Business Link was set up for this kind of purpose. A colleague and my wife both found them very good. Someone on here found the useless.

Suck it and see - it is free.

I gave those guys a spin when I'd conjured up a plan B during the last recession. They pretty much panned my idea so I gave up on it. Dunno whether that's termed good or useless.

Just watch Dragon's Den to get a feel for what investors want. Pretty much everybody apart from your mum & dad will only put money in if you've made some sales and it's clear that you'll make a profit at some point in the future. The quicker you're likely to turn a profit, the keener people will be to invest. Investors will be really keen if you're already turning a profit and you just need to exchange equity for capital to invest to grow your company quickly.

I'm working on my plan C nowadays whilst looking for permie or contract opportunities. Don't see plan C making me a fortune as it's got very low financial barriers for entry in to the market. The advantage of the low barriers is that I only have to stump up pocket money to enter the market myself. I feel that I've identified a niche whose main barrier is the ability to speak a challenging foreign language which should keep the mainstream at bay for a short while.

[minestrone]

Thanks chaps, i'll have a look into all these options over the course of the day.

I tried the business link folk recently and they told me to forget it as I had been incorporated for more than a year, my local enterprise mob told me they were not interested as my turnover was not more than 150 grand. Arses.

I have pretty much had an offer of VC as long as I get a plan going but it was a crap deal for me. They wanted to double the equity for half the money. If there was a second level of funding I would have been minority owner and I think that is what they were aiming for. I am going to try and get some better options going.

[Tingles]

Those who can't do, teach.... those who can't teach work for Businesslink!


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[Tingles]

When I setup a plan B some years ago - I had problems getting low cost labour.

The Businesslink 'advisor' advised 'hanging around school gates and speaking to mothers' - I told them I didn't think it was a good idea for a man to do that!!!

The other advice was to close down the business in Cheshire and open it up again in Liverpool...

In the end I advertised in newsagents- rather than local papers.

With good results...



T