Joshua Said:

What Books or Soft Wear Can Help Me With Writing A Business Plan?

We Answered:

I love Palo Alto's software http://www.paloalto.com/ -- they have sample business plans for a commercial cleaning business that you can use

Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:

- SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/pla…
- PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/busi…
- Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,72…

You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:

- Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.c…
- MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businesspla…
- VFinance - View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&T…
- Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_…
- PlanWare Planning software and information. http://www.planware.org/
- Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
- SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/pla…
- Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/b…
- Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServe…
- Business Plans Index - A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/b…

Some recommended books are :

- Business Plans Kit for Dummies
- The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
- Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
- Business Plans For Dummies®
- Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan

Hope that the above resources help

Marcus Said:

Best Resouces for Writing a Business Plan?

We Answered:

Go to http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/ or http://www.bplan.com/ where you will find sample plans and instructions on how to write a business plan

Katrina Said:

Need a good resource for writing a business plan.?

We Answered:

I would hire someone. They can make sure you have all the correct criteria if you are looking for a grant or loan. And also they are so time consuming to write correctly. Try either www.masterplans.com or www.vanswiss.com

both are affordable.

Allan Said:

Please recommend me a good Business Plan writing "guide" ....?

We Answered:

There are a number of resources online that can provide steps or templates to writing your business plan. It would help to know what type of business you are starting. A good starting point is the US Small Business Administration website at http://www.sba.gov .

There is also some information available on about.com Canada on starting a small business (see link below). And there is useful info and links to business plan guides/templates at http://www.software-marketing-advisor.co…

Joanna Lees Castro

Mark Said:

When writing a business plan do you have to include industry ratios and how does one read them?

We Answered:

Having written several business plans, the best suggestion I have for you is to try out the Business Plan Pro software package. It includes a Ratios table that automatically calculates your ratios and then compares them to industry averages.

Assuming your trying to compare your numbers to an industry report you already have, another option is to use a financial dictionary such as Investorwords.com to look up each ratio so that you can learn how to calculate them on your own. (http://www.investorwords.com/)

For example, search for "quick ratio" and you will get the definition you need.

Good luck!

Rosemary Said:

What is the best way to go about writing up a business plan for an investment idea?

We Answered:

Go to http://www.sba.gov , http://www.score.org or http://www.bplan.com for instructions on how to write a business plan and sample business plans.