I am trying to do up my business plan.

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to show me theirs as an example/guideline for mine? Or possibly point me in the direction of a sample one. I have samples for different service business plans. But i'm looking for one that is specific to a hosting service business plan.

I have some good resources if you are just getting started. I will post them when I get back later.

awesome, i'd really appreciate that

anyone else have any advice/plan examples?

Start with contacting your local SBA (small business association). They should have a one-stop shop that can guide you in the right direction. There are usually good reference materials that outline a busines plan---approx. 100pages if you are presenting this to a bank. They also have seminars, mentors that you can directly contact, and other helpful resources.

I have some good resources if you are just getting started. I will post them when I get back later.

you ever gonna get around to posting those? I am having the hardest time trying to figure out how to research my 3 year projection of profit and most of the things involving money.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail :)

Good job making a business plan :)

make your exit plan first so you know where to hide when your business failed.

you ever gonna get around to posting those? I am having the hardest time trying to figure out how to research my 3 year projection of profit and most of the things involving money.

Sorry. The reason why I didn't before was because I would've had to host the pages on my site and posting a link would've violated WHT's rules. I will throw the info together and PM you a link.

StartupBiz.com: http://www.startupbiz.com

Starting your own business: http://network.isyndicate.com/comerica/chn/991105.x.0.cmp.p.a.start.html

Business Plans: http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html

Startups: http://www.bplans.com/st/

I setup a page on my non-commercial site: http://joshstein.com/biz.htm

I hope this helps!

thanks a bunch josh...i hope it helps too...gonna get to reading them now :D

Generally, your business plan should include the following sections:

Executive Summary - 1 or 2 page summary of your entire business plan, this is at the beginning of the plan but you should actually write it last.

Business Description - Describe the main purpose of the business, include mission and vision statements, overall goals, principals of the business, and type of company (sole proprietorship, LLC, etc.). An important question to ask yourself here is "what is your sustainable competitive advantage?"

Industry Overview - This should comprise the bulk of your market research such as industry trends, emerging technologies, size of the market, market growth, your target customer groups, etc.

Marketing Plan - Self explanatory and remember, marketing doesn't just mean advertising. Include the 4 p's - product, place, promotion, and price. Include things like competitive strategy as well.

Plan of Operations - Basically describes how you will be running the business - all the details and logistics. Like where you'll be sourcing from, who's going to be managing day-to-day operations, company policies, what kind of office supplies you may need, etc.

Financial Plan - Pro forma financial statements such as balance sheet, cash flow statements, income statement, and other useful spreadsheets for operating expenses, sales forecasts.

Other useful sections you can add are exit strategies, risk assessment, and other plans you'd like to document. If your business plan is going to be used to acquire outside funding, you'd also need to document all your sources and support all claims in your business plan. And remember, a business plan is also a discovery process, when you're doing market research, try to be objective - don't just acknowledge market characteristics you like - sometimes you'll realize what you want to do may not be such an attractive opportunity. Hope this helps, Phil.

ph23man...
thanks for that info...i guess i didn't expalin what i was looking for very good. I know the format of the business plan and everything...the part i am having trouble with is the financial plan...Pro forma financial statements such as balance sheet, cash flow statements, income statement, and other useful spreadsheets for operating expenses, sales forecasts....this is the part that i can't figure out how to get...where/how do i get all these figures?...

Anyone has template format or examples?

Anyone has template format or examples?

Did you look at my post?

Webserver4life,

I would probably guess that no company is going to share their business plan openly with you. However, just by going to google and typing "Creating a business plan" or "Business Plan Example" I got hundreds of hits.

Thank you Josh! I have started into Web Hosting, but I haven't advertised yet. I have a few customers, and I am adding to my customer base by word of mouth.

Now, I am starting to sell Internet Access, and I need a business plan for sure.

Best Regards,
Jason

Thank you Josh! I have started into Web Hosting, but I haven't advertised yet. I have a few customers, and I am adding to my customer base by word of mouth.

Now, I am starting to sell Internet Access, and I need a business plan for sure.

Best Regards,
Jason

You are quite welcome.

Good luck!

LLightWhost,

Three things:

1 - Good for you for thinking Business Plan first. Articulating ideas in a business plan causes you to subconsciously evaluate your plans and think through things than can often be overlooked.

2 - Very important: create a Business Plan that can be a living document. Your business plan and projections will become outdated after your first month in business. Plan to evaluate and update your business plan at regular intervals so that it always remains a relevant tool for your business.

3 - Ditto on what a previous poster said about the SBA. If nothing else, they have great resources (many of which can be accessed online).

Good luck!