Three Ways to Write a Business Plan

I l @ ve RuBoard

There are three ways to write a business plan depending upon your budget and the complexity of your new business venture. The individual who plans to teach silk flower arrangements from home needs a simple plan while the person beginning with investment capital or bank loans requires a more detailed plan.

• Free: The SBA provides a wealth of free information and help for writing business plans, including planning templates and advice. In addition, there are many business websites such as About.com or Entrepreneur.com that can direct you to free downloadable business plan templates. Invest-Tech.com and BizPlanIt.com are two other sites that not only sell software programs but also provide free sample business templates.

• Under $100: There are several good software programs on the market for writing business plans. Business Plan Pro by PaloAlto.com is currently the best-selling business plan software program on the market.

• Over $1000: If you are forming a company that includes significant investment start-up capital and a complex legal structure, you may want the help of a business planning consultant. These are professionals who will write the plan for you, charging anywhere from $1500 to $5000. They can be located on the Internet, in the yellow pages, or from your accountant .

I l @ ve RuBoard