Free business plan template to help with your startup
Blog: Monday Project Management Blog
So many moving pieces are involved in a successful business. When you’re starting your own — or planning something new with an existing business — there’s a lot to keep in mind to make sure everything runs smoothly when it’s time to implement your plan.
But a business plan is also crucial if you need to get financing to get to the next stage. And lucky for you, we’ve created a business plan template that simplifies the business plan creation process. In this article, we’ll break down how you can fill it out effectively, get your team on the same page, and obtain funding more easily.
What is a business plan template?
A business plan template breaks down every section of a business plan to help new business owners write a business plan with ease. A business plan is a document that outlines the goals of an existing or new business. It also explains how you will work towards those goals once the business comes to life.
Most business plan templates will also provide a section for a timeframe for the development of the business. For instance, the plan can specify:
- The date of launch
- Initial cash runway
- Estimations for how long it takes to turn a profit
Why use a business plan template?
There’s been a decline in Series A investment for startups since 2019. Series A is the second stage of startup financing, but it’s the first stage for venture capital financing. This means that new businesses seeking funding from venture capitalists may struggle more than before to get off the ground.
If you want funding, you need to show potential investors that you’ve got your ducks in a row. A business plan helps you showcase your plans in a precise and concise way. But business plans aren’t just useful for funding. They’ve got several other benefits, including:
- Attracting talent: potential employees are taking a risk by coming aboard a new company. They want to make sure you’ve got proper direction.
- Get everyone on the same page: if you’re launching a company with one or more business partners, a business plan becomes a single source of truth for all parties.
- Achieve clarity on where you’re going: clarity isn’t just for investors and talent. It’s also important to help you figure out exactly where you want your new business to go.
A more structured planning process
So why is a business plan template the best solution to create your business plan? First, a business plan can provide structure to the business planning process. Instead of starting from a blank page and drafting whatever comes to mind first, the template guides you through every section.
Maintain consistency
Business plan templates also help you achieve consistency for all business plans your teams create. Even if you only intend on launching a single business, you may want to write other plans for marketing or strategy efforts later.
Avoid planning for planning’s sake
When you use a template instead of starting from scratch, you’ll also spend more time working on your plan’s content and less time on “planning the plan.” Creating the right structure in Excel, Word, or other tools takes time and effort when you only have a blank document.
Finally, a business plan template can make it easier to connect your plan to other documents you want to create — especially if you create your plan on monday.com. For instance, let’s say you already have a board with a complete budget for your business. Instead of writing all those details again, you can add a column in your business plan template that connects to your budget board.
What are some examples of business plan templates?
Here are some examples of sample business plans that can be useful in a variety of scenarios. These usually come as a template pdf or spreadsheet.
Start-up business plan template
A startup isn’t just a new business. It’s a specific type of new business. A startup, by definition, gets created to generate disruption in the market. Owners who launch a startup want to grow as much as possible.
Owners of new small businesses may not want to achieve this type of growth. For instance, a local dog groomer may never want to have more than one or two employees on their team. But startup business plan templates usually give you the structure you need to plan for disruption and growth.
Business growth plan template
A business growth plan template is perfect for existing businesses that want to grow. All plan sections stay focused on comparing a starting point to the final growth goals. Unlike a regular business plan, the starting point is your existing customers and products.
Strategic business plan template
This type of template focuses on high-level company goals and vision. It also includes an implementation plan for the strategy you’ll use. Businesses at any stage can use a strategic business plan template.
monday.com’s business plan template
Whether you need to create a strategic business plan for an existing business or you’re working on a brand new startup, having a template to plan out the details is a huge help.
monday.com’s free business plan template is fully integrated with the other tools you can use to run your business. Everything lives on the same platform, so you don’t have to jump from a spreadsheet to a PDF and back to another spreadsheet.
From your business plan template, you can even create other boards on your work OS to create a new environment where work will take place. When you create your business plan straight from your monday.com template, you start your business off on the right foot!
Related templates
Here are some other templates you should know about if you’re starting a business.
Operations plan template
An operations plan outlines how your team will reach business goals. This type of template lays out all the usual moving pieces involved in business operations so that you don’t leave anything out.
Marketing SWOT analysis template
If your business plan doesn’t have a marketing SWOT analysis, consider creating one separately. A marketing SWOT analysis template helps you outline all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist in your market — and how your marketing strategy can make the most of this reality.
Financial plan template
Plan your company’s finances to create forecasts and budget accordingly with a financial plan template. A financial plan can be standalone, but it’ll usually be included in a complete business plan template. They can also work for finance requests.
FAQs about business plan templates
What are the 7 elements of a business plan?
Every business plan should at least include the following seven elements:
- Executive summary: a brief overview of your company, its mission statement, and why you think it will succeed
- Description of your business: a detailed breakdown of what your business will be, what market and customers it’ll target, what problems it solves, and how you’ll stand out from the competition
- What product or service you’ll have: a more granular breakdown of what products or services your business will have and what problems they solve (and for who)
- SWOT analysis: the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats your business will face. You should also include a market analysis for the target market.
- Business strategy and implementation: what strategies you plan to use to succeed with your business and how you’ll implement them
- Breakdown of the management team: a description for each member of the management team with a breakdown of what their role will be in the business
- Financial plans: the business model, financial projections, and how much money you and your business partners will invest
How do you write a business plan?
When you run your business on monday.com, writing a business plan is simple. Just create a new board using the monday.com business plan template with one click.
Then, fill out each of the seven sections above step by step and fill in the info on monday.com. When you’re done, share your board with other stakeholders so they can review it.
What should a simple business plan include?
Apart from the seven core elements, your business plan should include a few more things depending on what type of business you want to launch. If you’re writing a lean business plan, you may not need anything more. But if you’re developing a 10-page business plan, you may need more details.
For instance, if you’re asking for funding, you should include a section that explains your funding requests. How much funding will you need, and how you plan to use those funds. Are you asking for a loan, or are you selling shares of your future business? Your startup business plan can also include a marketing plan within your strategy section.
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