21 December 2009 by Sophie
Business plans are a crucial step towards making your business a
reality, solidifying ideas and creating structure. They also help
established businesses firm things up, and they're an absolute must
if you want to get bank finance, private
investment or a small business grant.
We often get asked for advice on putting together a business
plan. It may be one of the most important steps, but it's also
often the most unfamiliar and daunting. Fear not - we've pulled
together the 15 best resources out there that won't break the bank.
In fact, loads of them are completely free.
On Smarta
1. More than 500 free business plan templates
2. Our guide on how to write a business
plan
3. Our section on business plans
Free online courses
4. Online business planning course from
Crampuppy.com
5. Free 16-session online business
course (go for section two of the course, detailed on the
homepage, for content specifically on business plans)
6. Free online seven-day planning course sent to
your email address
7. This free course comes in five daily emails,
from Business Plan Academy
Workshops
8. Hotcourses.co.uk directory of business plan courses
9. A business planning workshop from Palo Alto,
on January 21 2010, in London (costs £99.99 but you may get a
training grant if you're a small business with more than five
employees)
10. Listings of 250 free day-long business planning workshops
all across the UK in the coming month
11. Free day-long course for anyone who hasn't yet
written down their ideas formally into a plan, from Roehampton
University, on January 4 2010
12. Free five-day course in Ilford from the
Business Training Centre, in January 2010
13. More than 90 business planning courses across the
UK, with some around the £100 mark (though many are more
expensive)
14. Business Plan Bootcamp (about a third of the
way down that page), costing £50 for five hours
15. A course from the British Library Business & IP Centre on
business planning, costing £99 on January 21 2010