Business Plan Handbook: A Compilation of Actual Business Plans Developed by Businesses Throughout North America

I am a SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) volunteer who provides business coaching services via email and in-person. I have recommended on almost every occasion that my "clients" who are starting a business and need to prepare a business plan search out for this volume and the others that follow it at their public library, community college library, or university library.

A business plan is a 25-35 page written document that includes the following ten sections:

1. Business History and Outlook
2. Description of Product or Services
3. Market Examination (target market)
4. Description and analysis of Competition (competitors serving target market)
5. Marketing (various options and a plan)
6. Operations
7. Administration and Management
8. Key Personnel
9. Potential Problems and Solutions to those Problems
10. Financial Information (BS, IS, Stmt of Cash Flows)

Included in this volume are the following sample business plans:

1. Advertising Brokerage Firm
2. Barbecue Sauce Manufacturer
3. Campus Apartment Complex
4. Childrens' Indoor Recreation Center
5. Corner Store
6. Environmentally-Minded Residential Construction Company
7. Ethnic Food Supplier
8. Fitness Center
9. Food Distributor (template)
10. Gift Store
11. Hardware Store (template)
12. Home Renovation Contractor
13. Landscaping Service
14. Leather Accessory Manufacturer
15. Meal Facilitation and Preparation Company
16. Producer and Supplier of Plants and Flowers
17. Restaurant (2)
18. Technology Solutions Provider
19. Trademarked Resort Wear Distributor
20. Veterinary Practice
21. Wine Merchant and Storage Facility

None of the above plans are 25-35 pages long. And few if any have good Financial Information. But what they do provide the reader is examples of how business plans are supposed to present information. You will no doubt see big holes in the sample plans. It is those holes you need to be aware of so you can fill them in when you prepare your own business plan.

Read the plans as if you were going to use them to start a similar business. Ask yourself what you still need to know after reading each plan that you must have an answer for in order to use the plan as a blueprint for actually running your own business. As you do this for each of the plans you will become expert at analyzing and critiquing business plans. And that is what you need to be able to do well when you write your own business plan. 5 stars!