Writing A Business Plan:
Free Sample Business Plans

We get asked about free sample business plans a lot.  So much, that we have added them 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.  They are all part of our business plan help service.

That certainly isn't to say that all these business plan help 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 the 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.  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.  But NOT from top business plan writers.

Top business plan writers, like our writers, can't offer free business plans.  Every single business plan that we create cost 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.

The important part is that the freebies DON'T come from you.  And your business is the only one that matters.

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.

Using Free Sample Business Plans

There ARE ways to use free sample business plans.  But it is NOT to just copy one, put your name on it and give it to a bank.  No, a much more effective technique is to:

Look for sections that interest you.  Discover why they interest you, and see if you can adapt them for your business plan.

Look for color schemes that you like.  You will quickly discover that most of them don't use any color at all.  You should use some color, very judiciously.  Pick your accent color carefully, and your business plan can sparkle.

Look for financials that look real.  Everyone knows that projections aren't "real", but they must project realistically.  Take a look at a few and you will see what we mean.

Most of all, look for business plans that catch your attention.  Most don't.  If there is one that does, take a better look at it and see how much you can adapt, in style or content, that will catch the attention of your lender.

Take these lessons, find a basic business plan that looks pretty good, and mesh it all together.  THAT is what creates a strong business plan.

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