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M$5 February 25, 2009 02:49 PM

What's a good on-line resource on business planning?

I have replaced a small management team of two with a much larger and diverse management team, all with varying levels of business experience. Where can I find information and guidance on how to write a business plan collaboratively?
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February 25, 2009 03:39 PM
BizPlanIt is a leading business plan consulting firm. If you're searching for business planning tips, tools and advice from experts, you should head over to http://www.bizplanit.com/

They have a lot of free resources as well, including articles, software and links, for everyone from startups to international corporates.

MIT's enterprise forum at http://enterpriseforum.mit.edu/
is another terrific resource, which has a lot of info on Venture Capital and Angel Investors.

They also have details on entrepreneurial organisations, govt agencies, and a series of really useful podcasts.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to small businesses.

Their website at http://www.sba.gov/
helps you to plan, start, manage, and exit your business. They have business guidance and support services, and partner with a range of organisations to help you make your business a success.

You should also check out http://www.business.gov/
for legal requirements, and locating government services supporting the small business community.

Two other sites I'd recommend are:
The Small Business Development Centre at
http://sbdcnet.org/

and
The GrowThink blog at
http://www.growthink.com/



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February 25, 2009 03:23 PM
Check out Bplans.com

http://www.bplans.com

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February 25, 2009 04:15 PM
Hi Brett!

I use PlanHQ to collaborate with other folks on Business Plans. It's quite easy to use and based on your question, sounds like it'll meet your needs as well.

Here is a link to the software:
http://www.planhq.com/

http://www.planhq.com/planhq/images/planhq_logo.png

Here's an intro video from TechCrunch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO5s5va2fiw

Give it a try, It's really good web based software,. I bet it'll meet your needs and exceed your expectations.

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February 25, 2009 10:16 PM
For a business plan:
Sba.gov
Gobignetwork.com
Visit the SBA for a primer on writing a plan. Bounce your ideas off experts in the Getting Started forum at Go Big Network.

The SBA offers a variety of online courses to assist small businesses in more effectively managing their firms in the current economy. The new course topics, available directly at http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses , include revising business plans to reposition with current conditions, winning customers in a slowing economy, restructuring existing debt, and diversifying your customer base with federal contracts.

The most recently added course is ''Downshifting in a Slowing Economy: A Business Planning Guide.'' This course is designed to help business owners reorganize and streamline their business strategies. Other related business tools include a new automated business plan template and an assessment and strategies guide for surviving in a slowing economy.

''The SBA is helping small businesses with the resources and tools they need in the current business cycle,'' said Jeff Andrade, associate administrator for Entrepreneurial Development. ''In addition, SBA offers a variety of resources and referrals to small businesses uncertain about what to do in the current economy on its Web page on economic recovery at http://www.sba.gov/helpingmainstreet.' '

Each free course is self-paced, and provides practical guidance on how to stay on top of economic conditions. These and other courses can be accessed from the SBA's Web site at http://www.sba.gov/training . To access them, click on ''Free Online Courses,'' then make a selection under the header ''Surviving in a Down Economy.''

Source(s):
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html
http://www.gobignetwork.com/


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February 27, 2009 01:46 AM
Hey Brett,
Few helpful resources I refer to often:

1) Wall St Journal Small Business:
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-small-business-marketing.html

2) Working Solo:
http://www.workingsolo.com/

3) US Small Business Administration:
http://sba.gov/

When working with a larger management team - a great way to collaborate is to break down everyone's initial defenses and have them do a solo presentation on their experiences and ideas for the group. This should be an clean canvas meeting with no expectations or specific goals. Just a good opening meeting to showcase everyone's skill sets and their initial ideas for the organization. Once the barriers are down after this I think you'll find that everyone will collaborate much more effectively.

Also in this vein a great read on this topic is "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" see http://tinyurl.com/cgjfux

Best Wishes
Source(s):
Amazon.com
Sba.gov
workingsolo.com
online.wsj.com


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February 27, 2009 11:25 PM
I haven't used the site for a lot, but work.com has some business planning resources.

http://www.work.com/creating-a-great-business-plan-11/

You might try them.
Source(s):
http://www.work.com


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May 02, 2009 11:07 PM
Check a good site for business plan templates
www.nextiq.com
Source(s):
www.nextiq.com


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