Jennifer Polhemus ⋅ Santa Monica, CA Precision Research (self-employed) ⋅ 25 years experience

The other advisors gave good advice. Nolo Press has great books on starting up a business.

Richard Ashe ⋅ Houston, TX Veteran Franchise Advisers ⋅ 30 years experience

SBA's Business Plan Tool provides you with a step-by-step guide to help you get started. All of your information entered into this tool can only be viewed by accessing your account using the password you have specified. Not only can you save your plan as a PDF file, you can also update it at any time, making this a living plan to which you can often refer. You can also use your completed business plan to discuss next steps with a mentor or counselor from an SBA resource partner such as SCORE, a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or a Women's Business Center (WBC).

https://www.sba.gov/tools/business-plan/1

James Watters ⋅ Norman, OK Business Consultant, retired ⋅ 17 years experience

Search online for - Business Plans. Sites like Bplan.com offer many services, some for free.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

https://www.score.org/resource/business-planning-financial-statements-template-gallery

Timothy Donahue ⋅ Fleetwood, NC manufacturing ⋅ 35 years experience

If you are borrowing from a bank, the loan officer will give you an outline to follow. Be over conservative on projected revenue and take your expected cash outflows and add 50%.