The Successful Business Plan, 4th Edition: Secrets and Strategies (Successful Business Plan Secrets and Strategies)

Required reading at America's top business schools, it's been called "the entrepreneur's bible," having helped hundreds of thousands of successful business people get the funding they need to launch their businesses.

With a foreword by legendary venture capitalist Eugene Kleiner, The Successful Business Plan is packed with insider tips and insightful advice on writing and formatting a business plan that will stand out from the crowd.

Book features:

99 worksheets to help you get started quickly, taking you through every critical section of a successful business plan

Sample business plan offering guidance on length, style, formatting and language

The Abrams Method of Flow-Through Financials, which makes easy work of number crunching — even if you're a numbers novice

Special chapters addressing issues of concern for service, manufacturing, retail, and Internet companies

Added help for teams and students preparing business plans for classes or competitions

Nearly 200 real-life insider secrets from top venture capitalists and successful CEOs – learn what truly impresses funders

New chapter on starting a business in a challenging economy

Pros:
-The sample plans were the strongest part of the book because it allowed you to see how the worksheets were put together.

-Very thorough book.

-Leaves nothing out in terms of how to write a business plan and then how to get the money.

Cons:
-The book fell apart on me after reading through it a few times. For such a high quality text I expect a better put together book.

-Some of the financials were not matching other sections of the sample plan to see how it was put together overall.

-Some of the worksheets especially the financials were not well explained.

I am the kind of person who has an idea and just wants to run with it; I have a hard time figuring out specifics and financial realities. Between the book (which explained exactly what I needed to know about target markets, competition, cost-benefit analysis and the like) and the downloadable spreadsheets (which did all of the math, and carried the numbers through to all of the projection sheets and balance sheets and income statements and such, and took care of all of the formatting--just print and go!), I was able to write a top-notch, professional-looking business plan (if I do say so myself!) to present to my potential investor, and to the bank when I go to apply for a loan! And I won't feel embarassed by my lack of experience--at least, my business plan won't convey it. Plus, it's really important to go through the process of writing a business plan (and Abrams addresses this in the book) so you can really get a good, clear, structured idea of what you're doing, how you need to do it, and why you're starting a business in the first place.

I'm only three-fifths of the way through the plan I'm writing with this book, but I had to stop and praise it highly. Abrams forces you to go find numerical evidence for statements (I'm using the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau for starters), and to back up what you say with solid numbers. Thanks to her, I discovered highly lucrative, related fields to the business I was originally intending to start! By adding some simple enhancements to my original vision, I will probably double my income. Had I not done the research this book recommends, I never would have known.

There are some drawbacks to this book. For one thing, the fill-in charts don't always match the sample plan sections at the end of the chapter. And sometimes they ask questions without telling you where or how to find the answer. But those are minor quibbles. Overall, it is an excellent book that makes you work hard (as in 40 hours or more), and think about who you are as a corporate entity.

The best "proof of the pudding" was when I took a draft of my business plan into a meeting with an accountant today. Abrams warns you not to use draft plans (they can seem half-baked), but I had no choice... the accountant had to look at something. She was highly impressed, and instantly grasped the basics about my business based on this tight, well-focused, statistically sound presentation.

Thank you, Ms. Abrams. And to potential readers, what's thirty bucks if you can earn many tens or hundreds of thousands more by planning right?