Drafting a Business Plan
A business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. It is a description of:
- What your business does or offers to customers
- Who and where your customers are
- How much your goods or services cost
- Who and where your competition is
- How much it will likely cost to operate your business
It’s important to show how you’re going to make money. This is all important to have written down to help you communicate what you’re going to do. Your business plan can be simple and show how you’re going to grow.
You’ll need a business plan to apply for loans.
Business Plan Support
There are classes offered by various service providers to help you get your thoughts on paper and work out the details of your business idea into a plan. If you prefer to do the work on your own, templates and courses for business plans are available online.
Template: Initiate is a free online platform provided by the Mountain Association that provides a simple business plan template (you will be required to make a free account first).
Classes: Kentucky Small Business Development Center; Kentucky Women’s Business Center; SOAR Innovation’s Co.Starters
Other Templates or Information: Centro Business Planning App; Kauffman FastTrac; Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Plan Outline; SCORE Business Plan Templates
Financial Projections Support
Financial projections are what you anticipate your business’ finances to look like in the future. These may be requested for start-up businesses or if a business is looking to make big changes.
Template: Initiate is a free online platform provided by the Mountain Association that provides a financial projections template (you will be required to make a free account first).
In-person support: The Kentucky Small Business Development Center or the Women’s Business Center of Kentucky can assist you with projections.
