Business & Personal Finance

Business plans are beneficial because they help entrepreneurs and well-established business owners set and reach attainable goals in relation to their businesses.

A business plan is a written statement that "describes your business, its objectives and strategies, the market you are targeting, and the financial forecast for your business."  (Source:  Canada Business)

According to the Canada Business website, there are many benefits to preparing a business plan.  If you are starting or already have a business, they may assist you in:

• thinking about your business, recognizing opportunities and risks, and testing some of your expectations
• helping you determine the cash needs of your new business's (or established business's) goal(s)
• seeking financial assistance from banks and/or investors
• providing a benchmark against which to compare the progress and performance of your business

The Business, Science and Technology Department at the Toronto Reference Library  is hosting a free program with professional advice on Business Plans:

Business Plans for Small Businesses
Speaker:  Sally Wilkie, Toronto Business Development Centre
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Beeton Auditorium, 1st Floor, Toronto Reference Library
All are welcome

For on-line information about business plans, try the recommended websites by Toronto Public Library staff at the TPL home page under Books, Video, Research & more > Recommended Websites > Business, Finance and Economics > Small Business and Entrepreneurship > Business Plans & Planning.  Thirteen recommended websites on business plans and planning are listed that contain advice, samples, templates and more.

For a variety of business plan samples, try the Business Plans Handbook located in the Gale Virtual Reference Library via the Toronto Public Library homepage.  A TPL library card is required to access this on-line database.

For additional information, check out the following titles at the Toronto Public Library:

Chambers, K. Dennis.  Entrepreneur's Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals.  Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2008.

Covello, Joseph A. and Brian J. Hazelgren.  Your First Business Plan. 5th Ed.  Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks, 2005.

Karlson, Carolyn Boulger and James S. O'Rourke.  Writing and Presenting a Business Plan.  2nd Ed.  Mason, OH : South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009.

Ramsey, Dan and Stephen Windhaus.  Everything Business Plan Book:  All You Need to Succeed in a New or Growing Business.  Avon, Mass.:  Adams Media Corp., 2009.

Sahlman, William Andrews.  How to Write a Great Business Plan.  Boston, Mass.:  Harvard Business School Press, 2008.

Tiffany, Paul, Steven Peterson and Nada Wagner.  Business Plans for Canadians for Dummies.  Mississauga, Ont.:  J. Wiley & Sons Canada, 2008.

For more titles on this topic, search the Toronto Public Library's catalogue with the subject heading of 'business planning'.