Create a business plan using Microsoft Word® and Excel®One of the reasons that so many small businesses fail is that they don't do the necessary up front work to create an accurate and realistic business plan. Creating a business plan doesn't guarantee success, but the process of writing a plan is critical for any successful new business.
It isn't our goal to try to tell you everything you need to know about creating a business plan. Instead, our goal is to make the process easier by providing a professionally designed business plan template that you can edit easily using Word and Excel. Update (7/22/2016): We've added a basic break-even analysis worksheet to the companion Excel workbook. DescriptionThis template provides a business plan outline with sample questions, tables, and a working table of contents. It was created for newer versions of Word and Excel (Office 2007 or later) so that you can easily change the fonts and color scheme and the file will be compatible with the mobile and web-based Word & Excel apps.It is best to use Excel for financial statements, data tables and charts. So, we have provided a companion Excel workbook with these sample financial statements and other tables and graphs that you can copy and paste into your Word document.The companion workbook combines many of the different spreadsheets you can find on Vertex42.com, but customized specifically for inclusion in a business plan. Using the Business Plan Template Editing Headings and Table of Contents.
Word allows you to assign format Styles to text and paragraphs, and we've designed the template to use these Styles for defining headings, sub-headings, and figure captions.If you want to add a new section so that the Table of Contents updates correctly, just add a new heading in the body of the document and assign it the Heading 1 or Heading 2 style.To update the Table of Contents, go to the References tab and within the Table of Contents group of buttons, click on Update Table and then 'Update entire table.' Copy/Paste From Excel to Word. For simple tables, you can use Copy/Paste (Ctrl+c / Ctrl+v) to copy a table from Excel to Word. This will typically paste the data as a formatted and editable table in Word, though none of the formulas will be functional within Word (and the table will not be linked to Excel). Resources for Writing a Business Plan.
at SBA.gov - Anybody starting a business should become familiar with the SBA (small business association). SBA.gov also has an. YouTube: - Business Wales (3 minutes) - This video offers a quick overview and tips for the essential parts of a business plan. YouTube: - Berkeley-Haas (71 minutes) - This presentation offers both the venture capitalist and entrepreneur perspective on how to write a business plan that can successfully attract funding. at Entrepreneur.com - A book written by the staff of a company that should know what they are talking about. at bplans.com - Finding a business plan for similar businesses in your industry is a great way to get ideas for what to include in your plan. This site is a great resource for not only finding sample plans, but also for creating a business plan online using their step-by-step approach.Other Free Business Plan Templates.
at SCORE.org - This nonprofit organization (supported by the SBA) has provided expertise and free mentorship for millions of small business owners. They also have a useful collection of templates.
Pick a business plan format that works for you. There’s no right or wrong way to write a business plan. What’s important is that your plan meets your needs. Most business plans fall into one of two common categories: traditional or lean startup. Traditional business plans are more common, use a standard structure. For a one-person, home-based consulting business the operating plan will be short and simple, but for a business such as a restaurant or a manufacturer that requires custom facilities, supply chains, specialized equipment, and multiple employees, the operating plan needs to be very detailed.
at business.gov.au - This Australian Government site provides a really good business plan template for Word, including a detailed guide, questions to answer, and sample financial statements.report this ad.