Writing A Business Plan:
Free Business Plan Template

We get asked about a free business plan template a lot.  So much, that we have added sample business plans to each and every financing business plan set that we offer.  Most have 40-50 links to business plans; some have links to several hundred.

That certainly isn't to say that all these business plan samples are good.  Quite the contrary.  Some are pretty lousy.

There's an aura around the "printed word", and subsequently around the internet, that says that anything in print is good.  Balderdash. 

Most of the free business plans that you see online were created by a contest held by a business plan company a couple of decades ago.  In that contest, the company said that they would award something like $10,000 to the "best" business plan submitted.  But in order to submit a business plan, you had to agree that the company could use your business plan in its promotion.  So thousands of people sent in "business plans".  Some of them had pretty covers.  Most were really, really bad.

But that's where the glut of "free" sample business plans came from.

Others come from writers hired by bankers, or from MBA graduate students, or from some webmaster working for government, or from who knows where.

Top business plan writers, like our writers, can't offer free business plans.  Every single business plan that we create costs the entrepreneur several thousand dollars.  With that several thousand dollars came the guarantee that we would not release his business plan to the general public as a "freebie".  Any reputable business plan writer will do the same.

Also, plans written decades ago, or even ten years ago, don't capture the dynamic of current business plans.  All writing -- including business plan writing -- has been impacted by internet style.  See Business Plan Layout for some excellent suggestions on how to format and write a business plan now.

Finding A Free Business Plan Template

Each and every one of our business plan sets has links to free business plan templates.  Some are good; a few are very good.  But, trust me, there are a lot more bad free business plans than good ones.

And savvy business people know that your business plans has to go further than a free business plan template. Your efforts at raising financing must demonstrate the creativity and leadership skills that you possess. Without those skills, you simply won't have much of a chance at funding at all. With them, the sky is the limit.

I mean it honestly when I say that money is not an issue. It isn't. If the concept is true and the management is in place, the money will be there -- no matter what. Use the business plan to demonstrate that your concept is true, and that your management skills will carry the business through any storm.

Back to top of Free Business Plan Template