Business Plan Resources

When it comes to creating a business, dreaming up the great idea is the easy part. Coming up with a viable business plan that you can present to potential investors and use to build your business can prove to be a much more daunting task. If you enter a business plan competition, you may be provided access to workshops and other resources to get you started on the business planning process. But if you are just starting out, here are some useful resources  that will aid you in taking those first steps:

Books

• Anatomy of a Business Plan: The Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Business and Securing Your Company’s Future – by Linda Pinson (2008)
• The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success – by Jennifer Lee, Kate Prentiss and Chris Guillebeau (2011)
• Business Plans Kit For Dummies - by Steven D. Peterson, Peter E. Jaret and Barbara Findlay Schenck (2010)
• Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies (Successful Business Plan Secrets and Strategies) - by Rhonda Abrams (2010)
• Writing a Convincing Business Plan - by Arthur DeThomas Ph.D. and Stephanie Derammelaere (2008)
• The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur – by Jim Horan and Tom Peters (2007)
• How to Write a Business Plan – by Mike P. McKeever (2010)
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Plans Plus – by Gwen Moran and Sue Johnson (2011)
• The Social Network Business Plan: 18 Strategies That Will Create Great Wealth - by David Silver (2009)
• Start Your Own Business, Fifth Edition – by Entrepreneur Press (2010)
• The Small Business Start-Up Kit: A Step-by-Step Legal Guide – by Peri Pakroo (2010)
• The Accidental Entrepreneur: The 50 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Starting a Business – by Susan Urquhart-Brown (2008)
• The Small Business Planner: The Complete Entrepreneurial Guide to Starting and Operating a Successful Small Business – by Larry Wilson (2011)
• The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide – by Brian R. Ford, Jay M. Bornstein, Patrick T. Pruitt and Ernst & Young (2007)
• Business Plans that Work: A Guide for Small Business – by Andrew Zacharakis, Stephen Spinelli, and Jeffry A. Timmons (2011)
• Hit the Deck: Create a Business Plan in Half the Time, With Twice the Impact – by David Ronick (2010)
• Upstart Start-Ups!: How 34 Young Entrepreneurs Overcame Youth, Inexperience, and Lack of Money to Create Thriving Businesses – by Ron Lieber (1998)

Software

• Business Plan Pro – by Palo Alto Software – This powerful software walks you through the process of writing a business plan, step by step. You can either modify one of 500 included sample business plans or start from scratch with helpful instructions. Choose the standard version to start out, or the premier version to really get your business plan off the ground.