ebook business plan

How to Create a Business Plan for Your Books

By Hiten Vyas

You’ve heard it many times before on eBooks India, and it is worth repeating again. If you’re a self-published author selling your own books and ebooks, then you are running a publishing business. Any good publishing business worth its salt should be based upon a sound plan. This is where your business plan comes in handy.

If you’ve never written a business plan, then do what you do best (which is to write of course!) and get one completed. There are plenty of templates available online for free. The major benefit of producing a business plan is it will help you to focus.

You will have a guide of where you currently are, where you want to go in the future, and how you’re going to get there. Below are some of the key sections you would be working on when completing your business plan.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first page of your business plan. However, it is advisable to write it at the end. The reason for this is that the executive summary will be a brief overview of your publishing business.

Typically, it will highlight the name of your business, your background and experience, what books and/or eBooks you plan to write and sell, any progress you’ve already made, the readers you will target and projected sales and profit estimations. You will only be able to include these details in the executive summary once you’ve researched and completed the major sections of the business plan, such as those below.

About You and Your Goals

In this section, describe your background, experience, qualifications and credentials. Won any awards for your writing? If so, this is the place to state them in all their glory.

Also, describe your personality characteristics that emphasis how you have got it in you to make your book business a success. In addition, state the goals for your business; those which are short-term, medium-term and long-term. Make the goals as specific as possible, such as I will sell 10 copies of a particular title by the end of month 1 through 2 distribution channels.

Your Products and Services

Your products are your books and ebooks. If you have a plan to write 4 novels and 15 short stories over the next 12 months, then describe exactly what these will be about. Do you offer any other services, such a freelance writing and/or book editing? If so, you can state them in this section.

Remember, your readers are your customers . Have a think of exactly what type of customer you want to target with your books and ebooks. What is their age, background and interests? Where do these types of people hang out? This section is the place to explain as much detail about your customers as you can, and why you’re confident they will buy your titles.

Market Research

Do you have any plans to research whether people really will buy your book? For example, before you begin to write a book, you could carry out a survey to get the views of potential buyers and gauge their interest in your work. Write down any activities you will do, or describe any results from market research you have already done.

Competitors

There will be many other authors out there who will be offering books and ebooks in the same genre as you write in. A lot of these will already have readers who will be buying their books. In this section, review the top 10 authors who are most similar to you in terms of their publishing company size, and who have a similar type of audience that you want to attract.

When you review your competitors, think about what their strengths are. For example, if a competitor has a large social media following, from which they promote their books, then this would be a strong point of this competitor. This type of information will help you to review exactly who and what you are up against, and what you need to do with your book business, to overcome the strength of your competitor.

Similarly, also consider the weaknesses of your competitors. For example if you know an author in your genre is not effective at selling books and ebooks using their own website, then this could be an area you could really emphasis on when making your titles available to buyers.

Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

When planning your book business, it is wise to take stock of your situation and to do so honestly and objectively.

Every author has strengths and weaknesses. What are yours? For example, if your strength is you are a prolific writer, then this is an advantage as you will be able to get more titles onto the market and sell ebooks quicker. If a weakness you have is not having good ebook cover design skills, then you can plan to get a professional in place.

Opportunities and threats are usually external to you and your book business. For example, if you write non-fiction about a particular niche, which has demand but doesn’t have many books catered to it, then this would be an opportunity you could exploit.

On the other hand, if you know a competitor is about to launch a book in a very similar niche to you, then this could be a threat. In such a case, you would need to create a plan to mitigate this threat.

Marketing Plan

In this section, state how you will reach out to customers. How will you promote you and your books and eBooks? Will you use social media, your own author blog, or network by attending trade shows ?

Will you advertise in certain magazines you know your audience read, either in print and/or online? Write in detail, all the methods you will use to market your titles, and what price points you will use for them, and your strategy for selling at certain prices.

Distribution Channels

In this section, explain how you will sell your ebooks and books. Will you partner up with organisations like Amazon, Kobo and Smashwords and sell your titles through their platforms? If so, describe in detail how this will work.

Perhaps you will sell your titles directly through your own website, or copies at trade events you attend, or at presentations you give to audiences who will be interested in your work. Again, explain how you will do these things.

Financial Forecasts

A business plan for your books will normally have a set of financial forecasts. One type is a sales forecast, which will detail how many sales you expect to make over a 12 month period, based upon how much it will cost you to make those sales (e.g. cost of hiring editors, proof readers, cover designers).

Another very important type of forecast to produce is a cash flow, which will show all expected cash that will come into your business (through sales of your books and ebooks) and expected cash that will leave your business (through ongoing payments made for items such as hosting space for your website, business insurance, and marketing costs), again over a period of 12 months.

A cash flow is helpful to determine how much money you will need to help your book business start-up during its initial months, and at what point your income will exceed your costs, moving your business into profit.

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India . He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]

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20+ Professionally Designed Ebook Templates to Make Your Own

Written by: Idorenyin Uko

Ebooks are powerful sales, marketing and branding assets. They are effective for increasing online visibility, growing your audience, generating leads and driving sales. In fact, 67% of B2B buyers use ebooks for research and purchases.

However, creating an ebook from scratch that effectively communicates your message can be overwhelming, especially if you're not a designer.

With pre-designed templates, you can create professional-looking ebooks without breaking the bank. You don’t even need to spend countless hours learning complex design software. This means you get to focus on what really matters—your content—while still producing a high-quality ebook.

In this article, we'll share 20+ professionally designed ebook templates to help you impress your readers and enhance your credibility.

Ready to 10X your business growth? This video walks you through ebook strategies that can help make it happen.

20+ Ebook Templates You Can Use

Visme provides an extensive library of professionally designed ebook templates to help you create captivating ebooks.

With our intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can easily organize and structure your content, add multimedia elements like images and videos and customize templates to fit your brand and style. Plus, our built-in formatting tools ensure that your ebook looks great on any device.

But don't just take our word for it - check out what one of our satisfied customers has to say about our templates:

Graphic Designer

Browse through our selection of professionally designed ebook templates and start creating your own stunning ebooks in minutes. These templates cut across various genres, topics and industries.

1. Business Plan Ebook Template

Starting a successful venture requires a well-developed business plan . This business plan ebook template can serve as a guide for launching your business. You can also use it to identify opportunities, assess risks and develop strategies for business growth.

Filled with customizable features and modern design, this template clearly conveys your business vision with excellence. If you’re into business consulting, you can create an ebook as a free resource to attract potential customers and generate leads . The soft cream background is adorned with delicate splashes of lemon green and magenta. This adds a burst of freshness and energy to your ebook.

With Visme’s data visualization tool , you can easily visualize your strategies, financial projections and market research data. In Visme’s editor, you’ll get access to customizable charts, graphs, maps and widgets for data storytelling .

2. Video Marketing Ebook Template

As video marketing continues to gain traction, businesses need resources to help them stay informed and competitive. Use this stunning template to create visually engaging video marketing ebooks that captivate your audience.

This ebook is perfect for sharing your expertise, presenting industry trends and offering valuable tips for successful video strategies. It covers key topics like:

• Video marketing statistics
• The importance of video marketing
• Video marketing projections and trends
• Trends in video usage by marketers

From the cover to the back page, the ebook design switches between blue and gray backgrounds with sprinkles of grey and blue-colored shapes.

Each page has captivating images that enhance the reader’s experience. With Visme’s intuitive editor, you can easily swap out the colors, fonts, images and more to fit your brand identity.

3. Travel Ebook Template

Are you running a travel agency and want to create memorable travel experiences? Share travel tips, including hidden destinations and best hotels, with this travel ebook template. The template comes with a captivating design layout that perfectly balances text and visual content.

The creative visual elements do a great job of capturing the viewer's attention immediately. The cover page has a stunning image of a tourist destination. The first three pages capture high-resolution images of popular tourist destinations, landmarks and cultural attractions. These pages also share brief information about the attractions, accommodations, food and drink.

The last page shares tips on how to travel or tour Italy like a local. End your ebook with a call-to-action, such as encouraging readers to sign up for a newsletter or follow you on social media for more travel tips and updates.

Access free and built-in design assets in Visme’s editor to amp up your template. Visme has a large repository library of high-resolution images , icons, illustrations, shapes, statics and animated graphics you can use.

4. Productivity Ebook Template

Companies need productive employees to drive profits and business growth. Stats show that when engaged employees are productive, companies enjoy as much as 21% profit .

With this modern ebook template, you can create a helpful guide on increasing productivity. It's ideal for sharing tips and best practices on time management, productivity habits, goal setting and setting deadlines and more. You can share this with employees during onboarding or company meetings.

This ebook example features a vibrant selection of visuals, delightful colors and elegant fonts that make it easy to skim. The beauty of using Visme’s ebook template is that it gives you creative freedom. Use the template as is or engage readers with interactive elements —the choice is yours. Add pop-ups or hover effects that reveal extra info or link your CTA or social media icons to your pages or additional resources.

5. Fitness Club Ebook Template

Promote your gym and fitness club or share workout tips with this ebook template. This ebook is specifically designed to help gyms and fitness clubs boost memberships. By sharing valuable tips, you can build credibility, attract new members and retain existing ones.

This beautiful ebook template has a bold fitness-related graphic on the cover page. The rich blend of lemon green and white on a dark background and vice versa provides a strong visual contrast. Each page contains modern icons, visuals and design assets, all sourced from the Visme library. With these stunning visuals and dynamic elements, your ebook is sure to make a huge impact.

Remember to provide a call to action so readers can take action. Your CTA could be for readers to schedule a consultation with a personal trainer or sign up for a free trial membership. This template can be fully customized. You can edit content, swap images and apply custom colors.

6. Remote Team Management Ebook Template

Looking to impress your audience and establish your authority as a thought leader? This remote team management ebook template is what you need.

This ebook template can help you whip up compelling guides on remote management and any other topic. It covers what a remote team is, challenges in remote team management and remote team best practices and tools.

This ebook template has a sleek and modern design layout with a professional color scheme and attention-grabbing graphics. The use of multiple colorful shapes, widgets and icons drives visual interest and appeal.

Keep your ebook design consistent with Visme's Brand Wizard . When you input your website URL, the wizard will automatically import all your brand assets and save them in your branding kit.

This means you get to save time and effort; you don’t have to upload your brand assets manually. Also, you have access to a set of beautifully branded templates tailor-made for your brand.

7. HR Ebook Template

Put together an awesome and interactive ebook with this gorgeous ebook template. This template covers essential topics in the HR space, including:

• The HRM Focus
• How to Succeed as an HR Professional
• Responsibilities of the HR department

With Visme's easy-to-use editor, you can tweak this professionally designed template to serve multiple purposes. It can be deployed as onboarding training material for new hires in HR. HR managers can use it to provide guidance on recruitment and hiring processes. Training managers can use it as a valuable resource for employee development programs.

The template is adorned with several eye-catching pages. The visuals on all the pages are arranged in a grid layout. This layout creates a sense of balance and harmony across the entire document.

With Visme's collaboration tool , you can easily co-create and customize your ebook with multiple team members. Team members can edit, comment and reply to comments in real time. The Workflow feature makes it easy for you to assign specific portions of your ebook for team members to work on.

8. Instagram Marketing Lead Magnet Ebook Template

Generating leads is a tough job, even for the most experienced marketer. About 61% of marketers admit that generating traffic and leads is one of their biggest challenges. Sharing high-quality and valuable information or resources can help boost your lead generation efforts.

Boost your Instagram marketing efforts with the help of this creative ebook. This ebook template has all the ingredients for a high-converting ebook template. Use it as a lead magnet to attract quality leads. Better yet, deploy it as sales enablement content that helps you nurture and nudge leads to convert.

This ebook template for marketing features a clean and simple layout with cool animations, gestures, interactive links, photos and a wealth of colorful shapes and icons. If you don't find any visuals that meet your needs, Visme's AI image generator is your best bet. Just write a prompt describing the type of visuals you want to create and watch the magic unfold.

In just a few seconds, the tool can help create unique visuals in different styles: images, pencil drawings, paintings, 3D graphics, icons, abstract art and more.

9. Interior Design Ebook Template

In the highly competitive realm of interior design, standing out is key. Enhance your interior design presence with our customizable ebook template, showcasing the latest trends in the industry. This ebook also works wonders to showcase your portfolios, share tutorials and teach courses.

This ebook template isn't just meticulously designed to help you craft a compelling narrative. It's curated to leave a striking impression on your audience. The vibrant color palettes, captivating icons, high-quality photos and intuitive layout come together seamlessly, ensuring your audience is captivated from the first glance.

Start your journey with our dynamic interior design ebook template, setting the stage for your unique style to shine through. Easily find design elements in the Visme editor using the shortcut tool. After typing the forward slash (/) on your keyboard, a search bar will appear where you can search for the desired feature.

10. Content Marketing Ebook Template

Stay ahead of the curve and let your creativity shine with this stunning ebook template. Use this ebook template to share your content marketing knowledge, build authority and promote your business.

This sleek-looking ebook template features dedicated sections for content promotion, content writing principles, content marketing for startups, startup tips, marketing plans and checklists. With a brilliant selection of visual assets that are fully editable, this template is sure to grab the attention of readers.

Notice how the template uses a flowchart diagram to explain the marketing plan. You can access diagrams and other assets like headers and text, font pairs, stats and figures, text with graphics, photo grid and call to action in premade design blocks. All you need to do is drag and drop them into your design. During the design process, you can even save design blocks and reuse them in other projects.

11. Management and Leadership Ebook Template

Elevate your audience's expertise with this expertly crafted ebook template, designed to impart crucial management and leadership skills. This sophisticated and informative ebook template is your tool to empower professionals across diverse industries. It seamlessly blends sleek design with substantive content, ensuring your readers are equipped with essential knowledge.

Dive into specific management topics, explore leadership qualities, delve into impactful case studies and draw inspiration from success stories—all neatly organized within this template.

With its user-friendly layout, compelling visuals and motivational quotes, this template promises an engaging reading experience. Tailor it effortlessly to suit various domains within the expansive realms of management and leadership. Prepare to educate, inspire and guide your readers toward success.

Uncertain about what to include in your ebook? Or perhaps you need professional proofreading before putting it out? Visme’s AI writer is your go-to solution for crafting exceptional content. Whether you're looking for creative input or meticulous proofreading, this powerful assistant is designed to enhance your writing and ensure it's flawless.

RELATED: 15 Best Ebook Creator Tools in 2024 [Paid & Free]

12. AI Tools Ebook Template

Empower your readers with profound insights into the future of content and illuminate the ways they can harness the power of AI to their advantage.

This ebook serves as your gateway to building robust brand awareness and solidifying your stance as an industry thought leader. Seamlessly integrate it into your strategy to showcase a diverse array of AI-powered tools, amplifying your brand's influence and expertise.

The captivating front cover boasts a vibrant gradient, blending hues of blue, purple, red and violet against a pristine white background that continues throughout the rest of the pages. This harmonious color scheme visually reinforces the dynamic content within, ensuring a visually appealing and informative reading experience for your audience.

Visme offers a wide range of AI-powered tools to help you increase productivity—we’ve discussed a few of them earlier on. Visme's AI image edit tools make it easy for you to edit photos in your ebook within a fraction of the time.

This powerful tool helps you:

• Erase and replace objects you don't need in your image
• Eliminate unwanted backgrounds
• Unblur pixelated, low quality and smudged images
• Upscale images without losing resolution or sharpness.

13. Investment Fundamentals Ebook Template

Searching for a corporate ebook template that exudes professionalism and delivers information in an engaging manner? This template fits the bill.

Begin personalizing this exceptional template today to share your expertise on financial and investment-related subjects like investing, financial markets, wealth, portfolio and risk management, etc.

Tailored for investment enthusiasts, bankers, stock brokers, corporate professionals and educators alike, this template offers a seamless blend of sophistication and functionality. The clean and professional design ensures that you can convey complex information with ease. Its rich blend of blue and white colors will captivate your audience and drive visual appeal.

Elevate your content and make a lasting impression with this meticulously crafted business ebook template. Once you've published it, you can generate an embed code to share it on your website or landing page as a lead magnet.

14. Personal Finance Ebook Template

Enlighten your audience about the critical aspects of money management with our comprehensive ebook template. This personal finance ebook template is meticulously crafted to provide a comprehensive understanding of managing finances effectively. It features dedicated sections that delve into the significance, strategies and practical applications of personal finance.

The template's brilliant color combinations, compelling visual assets and overall layout make it versatile for various purposes. The vibrant orange color gradients set against a dark background create a visually striking contrast, enhancing the overall aesthetic appeal and making your content visually impactful.

Whether you choose to utilize it as it is or tailor it for a different topic, its engaging design ensures a visually stimulating reading experience.

Marketing an ebook helps you get better results. Once you're sold on the design, you can share the ebook with your audience using a live link. This option will retain the animations and interactivity in your ebook. You can also share it directly on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter (X) and Slack.

15. Graphic Design Ebook Template

Captivate your audience's interest and share invaluable knowledge with our visually engaging and informative ebook template. This resource on graphic design isn't just visually stunning; it's a powerful tool to attract potential clients and strengthen relationships with existing ones.

Designed meticulously, this ebook template is a perfect choice for those aiming to educate their audience about graphic design fundamentals. It boasts an attention-grabbing cover page, complete with a section for authors' notes. Dive into essential topics like color psychology basics and engage your readers with a fun activity towards the end, ensuring an enriching and enjoyable learning experience.

To amp up the impact of your ebook, pair it with Visme Forms to boost conversion rates. With the no-code online form builder, you can build interactive and engaging forms that engage, increase signups and convert.

We’ve tested Visme Forms on 700k visitors and the results showed up to 3X more conversions, engagement and form completion than traditional forms. Read the full case study here .

16. Fashion Annual Sales Ebook Template

Elevate your fashion and design business with our customizable ebook template, tailored to showcase your brand's essence.

This annual sales ebook template is more than just eye-catching; it's a showstopper. The striking cover page commands immediate attention, drawing focus to your fashion brand effortlessly. Its modern design layout achieves an impeccable harmony between textual and visual elements.

Furthermore, the template seamlessly integrates data widgets and captivating photos. It's the ideal tool to make a lasting impression and effectively communicate your business information to your audience.

Download your ebook in multiple formats: PDF, JPG, PNG and HTML. If you're printing at home or office, select the PDF but for professional printing, choose the PDF with Bleed Marks option. Hand out your ebooks to prospects during fashion shows or exhibitions to boost awareness for your brand and increase sales for your clothing line.

17. Health Ebook Template

Enhance your credibility, attract leads and educate your readers with our expertly crafted health ebook template.

This customizable health ebook template is your key to addressing intricate health issues comprehensively, fostering awareness, generating leads and directing traffic to your website or blog. It features dedicated sections for public health concepts, health statistics, epidemiology, communicable diseases and family health.

This template can serve a myriad of purposes. Regardless of your industry, you can tailor it to your needs and harness its full potential. The contemporary design and blend of rich colors make it a valuable asset even beyond the confines of the health or medical sectors.

If you sell ebooks , you can easily customize them for multiple clients with Visme's Dynamic Fields .

Create custom fields like client name, email, address, role and organization in your sample ebook. Then duplicate the ebook and simply swap the information in the dynamic fields and the changes will automatically reflect in the document.

18. Event Marketing Ebook Template

Ebook marketing is an incredible way to grow your audience, boost sales, grow brand loyalty and increase brand equity . Capture attention and accelerate lead generation effortlessly with our versatile marketing ebook template.

This template is your gateway to explaining intricate business concepts to your readers in an engaging manner. The ebook has a flexible layout, a professional cover page image and an energetic infusion of orange color on a white background across other pages.

This captivating design, coupled with the strategic use of images, icons and other visual assets, ensures that your content not only captures your audience's eye but also generates a plethora of leads swiftly and effectively.

Customize this ebook according to your brand and watch your engagement soar in no time. Take advantage of Visme Analytics to track the effectiveness and performance of your ebook.

You can get granular details on how readers have engaged with your ebook using metrics like Views, Unique Visits, Average time and Average Completion. Use the data to improve future ebook design and marketing strategies.

19. Vlogging Ebook Template

Want to promote your online course or showcase your business? This attention-grabbing vlogging ebook template is just what you need.

Whether you're an experienced vlogger with established brand partnerships or an individual guiding influencers toward success, this ebook template is your ideal platform to impart your expertise. Use it to engage clients throughout the buyer journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase follow-up.

Dive deep into the intricacies of video creation, editing techniques, the significance of lighting, audio, camera setup and much more. Integrate with your favorite tools to deliver knowledge and effectively connect with your audience on a profound level. For example, you can easily add videos to your ebook from platforms like YouTube, Loom, Vimeo, Wistia and Vidyard.

20. Project Management Ebook Template

Utilize this ebook template to craft a comprehensive guide to project management. This vibrant and imaginative project management ebook template is the ideal choice for those eager to share essential knowledge with their audience.

Use it as marketing material or sales collateral to boost marketing efforts. You can promote through email campaigns to drive downloads and capture leads. Optimize it for SEO and share it on social media platforms to increase visibility and drive traffic to your website.

The ebook example features captivating color schemes, innovative visual elements, elegant icons and a seamless blend of text and visuals. These elements follow a visual hierarchy that ensures your content stands out and engages your readers effectively. Transform your project management insights into an engaging and visually appealing resource with the wide range of icons, stock photos and videos available in the Visme library.

If you want to learn how to write an ebook, this comprehensive guide has everything you need.

21. Fitness Ebook Template

Craft a visually striking and expertly designed fitness ebook with our captivating template. This versatile ebook template covers various topics such as home workouts, workout tips and principles, exercise routines, nutrition and hydration tips. You can even add extra pages to capture membership benefits, testimonials and success stories.

This template boasts an exquisite color palette and a visually appealing layout. It’s also tailor-made to captivate your audience's attention and elevate your content to a professional level. Add a flipbook effect to your ebook so readers can flip through the pages like they’re holding it in their hands.

Quickly Design Stunning Ebooks with Visme

There you have it. Ebooks are powerful marketing and sales tools with a lot of perks. With a captivating ebook template, you can create and share thought leadership content, increase brand visibility and generate sales-qualified leads.

In this article, we’ve rounded up 20 of the best ebook templates to help you create your next ebook. Now it’s time to make your ebook with Visme.

Visme offers a wide range of tools and features to help you create attention-grabbing ebooks in minutes.

• Get started by choosing your favorite template from this article or ebook template library.
• Swap the ebook content with yours and customize the design (color, fonts, shapes, graphics) and others to match your branding.
• Download your completed ebook to your device as a PDF, print it or generate a shareable link to post on social media.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg regarding what you can do in Visme. You can create presentations, infographics, brochures, reports, proposals, plans, whitepapers, case studies, videos and much more.

Sign up now to design engaging, professional-quality ebooks with Visme’s ebook creator.

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About the Author

The 10 Best Books for Writing a Business Plan

• Ivaylo Durmonski
• Reading Lists

There are a lot of insightful thoughts around the concept of planning. In a sense, planning helps you forecast the “weather” of your business. Prepares you for what might happen. And distance you, hopefully, further away from your business going to dust. Most importantly, it allows you to think about the type of tasks you should focus on doing today. Do we know how to plan our business if we’re not business owners , though?

There is nothing wrong with having a regular job.

A lot of people are doing it.

Theoretically, since we’re born. We enter a sophisticated system of government-operated institutions that aim to spit us out after approximately 20 years, ready to help someone else grow his dream business.

You’re thought -sort of – how to plan your career. But you’re never thought how to plan your business.

Regardless of your current situation. The idea of starting a business or learning basic business skills will surely reach your mind at some point.

If you’re still not sure whether or not this is something you can achieve on your own. The business books mentioned below are specifically selected to boost your planning skills.

These books, of course, primarily serve business owners or people that are dreaming of becoming such.

Yet, these reads will definitely expand your horizon even if you don’t plan on starting your own thing right now. They will give you a perspective that will force you to think long term – the best way of thinking.

The 10 Best Books for Writing a Business Plan:

1. the goal by eliyahu goldratt, 2. the one page business plan for the creative entrepreneur by jim horan, 3. mind your business by ilana griffo, 4. business plan template and example by alex genadinik, 5. the best-laid business plans by paul barrow, 6. smart business by ming zeng, 7. measure what matters by john e. doerr, 8. your next five moves by patrick bet-david, 9. business model generation by alexander osterwalder, 10. playing to win by a.g. lafley.

What’s the book about?

The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt is a novel. A fascinating story that describes the life of a business owner who is facing a series of obstacles that, if not handled well, will lead to a catastrophic ending of the company he is running. Mr. Goldratt presents this fictional business environment to teach us an important lesson: That the speed of a convoy is determined by the slowest ship.

Who is it for?

Especially interesting for people who already own businesses but are struggling to grow. For people who can’t adequately articulate what is wrong with what they are doing. Eliyahu Goldratt teaches us that we should observe a business as a series of systems . The faster the systems operate. The faster you’ll grow. To speed up this process, first, you need to identify the weakest link and improve upon the process.

Thought-Provoking Quote:

“Since the strength of the chain is determined by the weakest link, then the first step to improve an organization must be to identify the weakest link.” Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Get the book | Read my summary

In this book, Jim Horan compiles his years of experience as a Fortune 500 executive and business consultant. The pages will help you quickly form a simple business plan based on the most successful companies in the world. The book goes through the 5 stages every organization hoping to make a profit from their products and/or services needs: Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Action.

This resource is great for people just starting their online or offline venture. Folks who are considering the idea of starting a business but are not quite sure what to do first. The One Page Business Plan For Creative Entrepreneur will show you the exact steps you need to begin your entrepreneurial journey.

Get the book

This long-winded title is here to show you how to start a business from scratch. Ilana Griffo, the author, shares her journey on how she started her side hustle which eventually become a six-figure design studio. A lot of readers describe this title as everything you need to learn about being your own boss. Of course, it all starts with planning.

Great book for anyone dreaming about starting a creative project both online and/or offline. The honest tips and the real-world insights will show you exactly what you need to do. How to start and how to plan your day. The book is the perfect companion that will be your guide in your money-making journey.

Simply put, this title will help you create a professional business plan. The author even boasts that you will do the planning in minutes. Not that you should rush. But the included exercises and the questions Alex Genadinik is asking in the book will help you think critically about your overall structure and the products you will be creating – or refining if you already have existing goods.

The program presented in this title is used by a number of universities to teach students how to plan better. As stated in the description, the book… “will help you identify the most effective business strategies for your situation.” You will start by writing a short 3-sentence business plan which will focus you on what’s truly important.

“Product: What is the product or service? What benefit does it provide and to whom? Can you make it inexpensively and of high quality? What form will it take? Website? App? Brick and mortar business? Marketing: Identify a few of the most effective marketing strategies to promote your business Finances: What are the major sources of revenue? How will this happen profitably? When will you achieve financial sustainability? Do you need to raise money for this? How much?” Alex Genadinik

The first book I read on business planning. Foreword by Richard Branson. This title is dated, but still adequate even though everything is happening online these days. The text will teach you the most important ideas around planning a business. It’s full of case studies about different projects and ideas. The author carefully explains how to present your business plan to others in a way that everyone will get.

This book will explain in a simple way why it’s essential and how you should approach the subject of planning in general. The ideas inside are great for people who are looking to raise money or get approval from seniors for their proposed course of action. Also, if you’re still not convinced that you need planning, this book will surely change your perspective.

Written by Ming Zeng, the former Chief of Staff and strategy adviser to Alibaba Group’s founder Jack Ma. This book presents a framework that will help business owners create a winning future strategy for their companies. The titles reveal some of the revolutionary practices Alibaba developed to rapidly increase efficiency.

We commonly read about what Google is doing or about what other Silicon Valley unicorns are working on. It’s a good idea to take a fresh eastern perspective on how to operate your business. Smart Business will show you how to use cutting-edge technologies to plan and scale your business.

Measure What Matter will teach you how to use Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) as an approach to make decisions in business. The legendary John Doerr has helped some of the best companies in the world to scale and exceed their yearly goals by using this simple method.

With time, every owner begins to collect all kinds of data to measure whether or not his project is succeeding. Sadly, many entrepreneurs end up being fixated on the wrong things. This book will explain what you need to measure and why. Helping you focus on the right things so you can reach explosive growth.

“We must realize—and act on the realization—that if we try to focus on everything, we focus on nothing.” John Doerr

In short, this book is about figuring out what you should do next. Taking a holistic view of your business is always a good way to think about where you plan to go. Occasionally, though, you also need to think and plan about what you should do right now – planning your next few moves. The steps inside this title will help you gain clarity on what you really want, who you want to be, and what to do to get these things.

For those who are not only working on businesses, but in business as well. Patrick Bet-David explains how to not let emotions cloud your judgment. How to switch from a broad view of your business to a narrower view. Essentially, the lessons inside will help you identify your true self. Understand who you want to be and where you want to go, both in your life and in your business.

“Your vision must align with who you want to be. Your choices must align with your vision. Your effort must align with the size of your vision. Your behavior must align with your values and principles.” Patrick Bet-David

Full of visual elements, Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers will help you soak up the knowledge and figure out your own business model. This is not your regular book where you’ll be presented with a wall of text. The title is full of infographics and design elements that will prompt you to actively work on defining your business plan and your strategy.

I’d say that this book is for people who are kind of tired of the traditional corporate-heavy jargon that is usually part of business literature. This title combines useful information and presents it in an easily digestible matter that will surely increase your comprehension and your participation when using the material.

“People are moved more by stories than by logic. Ease listeners into the new or unknown by building the logic of your model into a compelling narrative.” Alexander Osterwalder

Written by a long-standing Procter & Gamble Chairman and CEO, this book might seem a bit dry for your taste. Well, it surely is. Rarely anyone below CEO will relate to the mentioned examples. Yet, this read will change the way you think about your business. You’ll become more strategic with your daily decisions. You will become better at identifying what to do and what not to do.

Great companies do not become great by accident. They become great thanks to the strategic choices they make. Even if you don’t end up getting the book, simply consider the title for a moment: “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works”. Now, ask yourself, are you playing to win, or are you simply playing? This question alone will disturb your current processes and assist you in finding the best course of action for your business.

“The heart of strategy is the answer to two fundamental questions: where will you play, and how will you win there?” A.G. Lafley

Some Closing Thoughts

Business planning is important for various reasons.

Not only you’ll get clarity on where you’ll want to go. But you will also set a to-do list that will portray how to get to where you want.

More specifically, conducting a business plan will force you to think about what type of business you want to create. Understand your core motivators. Help you find your unique proposition and how you are different from the rest of the businesses out there.

I’ve hand-picked the selection of business books above so you can plan better. Of course, you don’t need to read all of the titles. Usually one or two from the list is enough to get you moving in the right direction.

If you’re looking for more reads on the topic. Make sure to check my must-read business books list. Or, the selection of books on how to start a business (plus my business book summaries ).

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It’s a step-by-step guide on how to crystallize your vision. Get your copy today!

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15+ Business Plan Books for Free! [PDF]

Planning in business is of vital importance for the founding of any type of company. This is why we bring you this collection of business plan books in PDF format so you can start your adventure as it should be, with foresight and order.

A business plan is a written document, of a formal nature, with a logical, coherent and progressive order that has the purpose of carrying out a set of actions indicated in it. It is a kind of guide or map that takes into account current and future opportunities and obstacles that may arise in the specific context of the business .

Therefore, we invite you to learn how to make one successfully, using as a guide our selection of more than 15 books of business plans in PDF format , to which you have immediate and free access, below.

Here we present our complete selection of Business Plan Books:

South Dublin County Enterprise Board

Les Nunn and Brian McGuire

Cole Ehmke,Jay Akridge

Donald J Reilly

Dongol Rina,Neupane Basudha

Rodney B Holcomb,Philip Kenkel,Linda Blan Byford

University of Cambridge

Rajdhani College

Smt Therese Francis

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Dr Babafemi Oyewole

The Gauteng Enterprise Propeller

Texas A and M AgriLife

Business Plan Guidelines

Esade Library

Beef Cattle Research Council

Community Business Development Corporation

Lake Agassiz Development Group

Do you want more Business and Investment books in PDF format ?

| Audit Books

| Books About Procedure Manuals

| Budgeting Books

| Costs Books

| Entrepreneur Books

| Gastronomic Management Books

| Inventory Books

| Marketing Books

| Organizational Development Books

| Real Estate Books

| Training Books

Computer Science

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Business Plan Development Guide

(6 reviews)

Lee Swanson, University of Saskatchewan

Copyright Year: 2017

Publisher: OPENPRESS.USASK.CA

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Kevin Heupel, Affiliate Faculty, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 3/4/20

The text does a good job of providing a general outline about writing and developing a written business plan. All of the important steps and components are included. However, the text is light on details, examples, and rationale for each element... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The text does a good job of providing a general outline about writing and developing a written business plan. All of the important steps and components are included. However, the text is light on details, examples, and rationale for each element of the business plan. Some examples from actual business plans would be helpful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

For the most part, the content is accurate. The content covers all important aspects of drafting a business plan. I thought the industry analysis could use more information about collecting primary and secondary sources; instead, this information was referenced in the marketing plan section.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Most of the content relies on cites as far back as 2006; however, when it comes to developing and writing a business plan nothing has changed. Thus, the content is current and there is no concern about it becoming obsolete in the near future.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear. There are no difficult terms used and the writing is simple. The text uses a lot of bullet points though, which gets tedious to read for a few pages.

Consistency rating: 5

The text does a good job of maintaining consistency in terms of framework and terminology. The text is organized where it's easy to find the information you want in a quick manner.

Modularity rating: 3

The text has a lot of bullet points and the paragraphs are dense. However, the use of subheading is excellent.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is organized as if you're writing a business plan from start to finish, which is helpful as a practical guide.

Interface rating: 5

There are no navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, or any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is free of grammatical errors. The sentence structure is simple with many bullet points, which helps to avoid any grammatical issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book was written by a Canadian professor and provides references to Canadian sources. However, the information in this text can be used for U.S. schools.

This book is very short and provides a good, general overview about the process of creating and writing a business plan. It won't help a reader if he/she is confused about a certain part of the business plan. The reader will have to find another source, such as "Preparing Effective Business Plans" by Bruce Barringer, Ph.D. The book provides links to good resources and a finished business plan that the reader can reference. I would recommend the book for undergraduate courses.

Reviewed by Kenneth Lacho, Professor of Management, The University of New Orleans on 6/19/18

1. Text is relevant to Canada. Not the United States 2. Needs to cover resources available to entrepreneur, e.g., federal government agencies, trade associations, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies. 3. Discuss local economy or... read more

1. Text is relevant to Canada. Not the United States 2. Needs to cover resources available to entrepreneur, e.g., federal government agencies, trade associations, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies. 3. Discuss local economy or economic area relevant to this proposed business. 4. Business model ok as a guide. 5. Suggested mission statement to cover: product/business, target customer, geographical area covered. 6. Need detailed promotion plan, e.g., personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, networking publicity, and social media. 7. How do you find the target market? 8. Chapter 6 too much detail on debt and equity financing. 9. Discuss how to find sources of financing, e.g., angels. 10. Expand coverage of bootstring, crowdfunding. 11. Chapter 4 – good checklist. 12. Chapter 3 - overlaps. 13. Chapter 7 – 3 pages of executive summary – double or single spaced typing. Number all tables, graphs. 14. Some references out-of-date, mostly academic. Bring in trade magazines such as Entrepreneur.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

In my opinion, the content is accurate and error free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The material is relevant to writing a business plan. I wonder if the Porter, SWOT VRIO, etc. material is too high level for students who may not be seniors or have non-business degrees (e.g., liberal arts). Porter has been around for a while and does have longevity. The author has to be more alert to changes in promotion, e.g., social media and sources of financing, e.g., crowdfunding.

Clarity rating: 3

As noted in No. 9, the tone of the writing is too academic, thus making the material difficult to understand. Paragraphs are too long. Need to define: Porter, TOWS Matrix, VRIO, PESTEL. A student less from a senior or a non-business major would not be familiar with these terms.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is internally consistent. The model approach helps keep the process consistent.

Modularity rating: 4

The process of developing a business plan is divided into blocks which are parts of the business plan. Paragraphs tend to be too long in some spots.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics are presented in a logical step-wise flow. The language style is too academic in parts, paragraphs too long. Leaves out the citations. Provides excellent check lists.

There are no display features which confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The text has no grammatical errors. On the other hand, I found the writing to be too academic in nature. Some paragraphs are too long. The material is more like an academic conference paper or journal submission. Academic citations references are not needed. The material is not exciting to read.

The text is culturally neutral. There are no examples which are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

This book best for a graduate class.

Reviewed by Louis Bruneau, Part Time Faculty, Portland Community College on 6/19/18

The text provides appropriate discussion and illustration of all major concepts and useful references to source and resource materials. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text provides appropriate discussion and illustration of all major concepts and useful references to source and resource materials.

Contents of the book were accurate, although it could have benefited from editing/proofreading; there was no evidence of bias. As to editing/proofreading, a couple of examples: A. “Figure 1 – Business Plan… “ is shown at the top of the page following the diagram vs. the bottom of the page the diagram is on. (There are other problems with what is placed on each page.) B. First paragraph under heading “Essential Initial Research” there is reference to pages 21 to 30 though page numbering is missing from the book. (Page numbers are used in the Table of Contents.)

The book is current in that business planning has been stable for sometime. The references and resources will age in time, but are limited and look easy to update.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written in a straightforward way, technical terms that needed explanations got them, jargon was avoided and generally it was an easy read.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

The book lends itself to a multi-week course. A chapter could be presented and students could work on that stage of Plan development. It could also be pre-meeting reading for a workshop presentation. Reorganizing the book would be inappropriate.

The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.

Generally, the book is free of interface problems. The financial tables in the Sample Plan were turned 90° to maintain legibility. One potential problem was with Figure 6 – Business Model Canvas. The print within the cells was too small to read; the author mitigated the problem by presenting the information, following Figure 6, in the type font of the text.

I found no grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

I require a business plan in a course I teach; for most of the students the assignment is a course project that they do not intend to pursue in real life. I shared the book with five students that intended to develop an actual start-up business; three of them found it helpful while the other two decided not to do that much work on their plans. If I were planning a start-up, I would use/follow the book.

Reviewed by Todd Johnson, Faculty of Business, North Hennepin Community College on 5/21/18

The text is a thorough overview of all elements of a business plan. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text is a thorough overview of all elements of a business plan.

The content is accurate and seems to lack bias.

Content seems relevant and useful . It does not help an entrepreneur generate ideas, and is very light on crowdfunding and other novel funding source content. It is more traditional. This can be easily updated in future versions, however. "Social Media" appears once in the book, as does "Crowd Funding".

The book is comprehensive, but perhaps not written in the most lucid, accessible prose. I am not sure any college student could pick this up and just read and learn. It would be best used as a "teach along guide" for students to process with an instructor.

The text seems consistent. The author does a nice job of consistently staying on task and using bullets and brevity.

Here I am not so certain. The table of contents is not a good guide for this book. It does make the book look nicely laid out, but there is a lot of complexity within these sections. I read it uncertain that it was well organized. Yes there are many good bits of information, however it is not as if I could spend time on one swathe of text at a time. I would need to go back and forth throughout the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

Similar to the above. I did not like the flow and organization of this. An editor would help things be in a more logical order.

Interface rating: 2

The interface is just OK. It is not an attractice interface, as it presents text in a very dense manner. The images and charts are hard to follow.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I a not certain of the origins of Saskatchewan, but I do feel this is a different read. It is more formal and dense than it has to be. This would be a difficult read for my students. I do not feel it is insensitive in any way, or offensive in any way.

I would not adopt this book if given the chance. It is too dense, and not organized very well, even though the information is very good. The density and lack of modularity are barriers to understanding what is obviously very good information.

Reviewed by Mariana Mitova, Lecturer, Bowling Green State University on 2/1/18

Though this textbook has a prescriptive nature, it is quite comprehensive. The author strikes a good balance between presenting concepts in a concise way and providing enough information to explain them. Many every-day examples and live links to... read more

Though this textbook has a prescriptive nature, it is quite comprehensive. The author strikes a good balance between presenting concepts in a concise way and providing enough information to explain them. Many every-day examples and live links to other resources add to the completeness of the textbook.

Content seems accurate.

Since the content is somewhat conceptual, the text will not become obsolete quickly. In addition, the author seems to be updating and editing content often hence the relevance to current developments is on target.

The text is very clear, written in clear and straight-to-the point language.

The organization of content is consistent throughout the entire text.

The textbook is organized by chapters, beginning with overview of the model used and followed by chapters for each concept within the model. Nicely done.

The flow is clear, logical and easy to follow.

Overall, images, links, and text are well organized. Some headlines were misaligned but still easy to follow.

No concerns for grammar.

No concerns for cultural irrelevance.

Reviewed by Darlene Weibye, Cosmetology Instructor, Minnesota State Community and Technical College on 2/1/18

The text is comprehensive and covers the information needed to develop a business plan. The book provides all the means necessary in business planning. read more

The text is comprehensive and covers the information needed to develop a business plan. The book provides all the means necessary in business planning.

The text was accurate, and error-free. I did not find the book to be biased.

The content is up-to-date. I am reviewing the book in 2017, the same year the book was published.

The content was very clear. A business plan sample included operation timelines, start up costs, and all relevant material in starting a business.

The book is very consistent and is well organized.

The book has a table of contents and is broken down into specific chapters. The chapters are not divided into sub topics. I do not feel it is necessary for sub topics because the chapters are brief and to the point.

There is a great flow from chapter to chapter. One topic clearly leads into the next without repeating.

The table of contents has direct links to each chapter. The appearance of the chapters are easy to read and the charts are very beneficial.

Does not appear to have any grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

I am incorporating some of the text into the salon business course. Very well written book.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Chapter 1 – Developing a Business Plan
• Chapter 2 – Essential Initial Research
• Chapter 3 – Business Models
• Chapter 4 – Initial Business Plan Draft
• Chapter 5 – Making the Business Plan Realistic
• Chapter 6 – Making the Plan Appeal to Stakeholders and Desirable to the Entrepreneur
• Chapter 7 – Finishing the Business Plan
• Chapter 8 – Business Plan Pitches

References Appendix A – Business Plan Development Checklist and Project Planner Appendix B – Fashion Importers Inc. Business Plan Business Plan Excel Template

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This textbook and its accompanying spreadsheet templates were designed with and for students wanting a practical and easy-to-follow guide for developing a business plan. It follows a unique format that both explains what to do and demonstrates how to do it.

About the Contributors

Dr. Lee Swanson is an Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, Aboriginal entrepreneurship, community capacity-building through entrepreneurship, and institutional-stakeholder engagement. Dr. Swanson’s current research is funded through a Social Sciences Humanities Research Council grant and focuses on social and economic capacity building in Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Scandinavia. He is also actively studying Aboriginal community partnerships with resource based companies, entrepreneurship centres at universities, community-based entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. He teaches upper-year and MBA entrepreneurship classes and conducts seminars on business planning and business development.

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7 Top Business Plan Books for New-age Entrepreneurs

Free Ultimate Guide On Writing A Business Plan

• October 18, 2023

12 Min Read

Business Plan books are the first thing to go for once you have decided on the idea you want to pursue as an entrepreneur.

Starting up as an entrepreneur is not as simple as it seems. Transforming your idea into a business that creates value for the world is a long process.

The process is full of uncertainties, hurdles, and burnout. To make consistent efforts without giving up, you need a plan you can rely upon.

A plan that helps you in making wise decisions in your entrepreneurial journey is known as a business plan.

It also helps in refining processes and keeps you in line with your business goals.

Now, how would you create a business plan?

Well, you can anyhow get to know what it contains. However, to easily create a business plan that covers all aspects of your business, you must read these books.

In this article, we are going to discuss the 7 top business plan books written for ambitious entrepreneurs like you!

Best Business Plan Books

• Art of the Start 2.0
• The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies
• The Founder’s Dilemma
• The One-Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur
• The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan
• Anatomy of a Business Plan
• The Complete Book of Business Plans

1. Art of the Start 2.0

Goodreads rating: 3.87/5

The author of this book is American millionaire Guy Kawasaki. Though his name is enough for anyone to stand up from their seats let me tell you a few things about him.

• He worked with Apple in 1984 as a part of the marketing team for Macintosh computers.
• He is the author of 12 books including The Art of Social Media, and Enchantment.
• He is currently working as the chief evangelist of Canva which is a graphic designing software.

Now coming to what this book holds for you, it’s one of those books that focus on transforming your business idea into a full-fledged organization.

Guy Kawasaki explains why it is important to have a vision and how you, as an entrepreneur, can feed your team with the same vision.

If your team does not adhere to the same vision, there will always be chaos in the workspace.

You must also share stories about your product and your journey. Everyone loves stories. You don’t have to write a 300-page book but a few social media posts, and videos that resonate well with your target audience.

The book also guides entrepreneurs while hiring. It tells you to hire people who are new in the industry. They are most likely to innovate new products as they consistently ask questions.

Key Highlight:

This book will help you in writing a business plan along with guiding you in various steps of entrepreneurship. This book holds something for every aspect of entrepreneurship.

It also stresses how you can use the internet and cloud tools to make the processes more accessible and more efficient. In the modern era, businesses are equipped with tools that are affordable and accessible to everyone.

Moreover, the book also throws light on socializing and partnering with the right people for leadership roles or to get funding.

By reading this book, you will feel more powerful as an entrepreneur and will be ready to take on challenges that come along with entrepreneurship.

This book doesn’t sound like rhetoric and probably that’s why this book received appreciation from all across the world.

Book Link- Art of the Start 2.0

A reader’s review:

The focus is on tech entrepreneurs. While much of the advice is applicable to other industries, the book will hit the bullseye specifically with those starting technology businesses.

Anita Campbell (via Goodreads)

2. The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies

The author of the book is Rhonda Abrams who has written more than 12 books on entrepreneurship. Being an entrepreneur herself, the knowledge she shares is absolute gold and trustworthy.

She also writes one of the most popular columns in the US known as Small Business Strategies.

Let us now discuss what Rhonda Abrams has taught in her book.

The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies is a complete guide for anyone stuck in writing. It is one of those books that give you a push to start working on your idea.

This book contains various worksheets and charts which makes it consumable as well as practical.

You will get enough examples of various parts of a business plan , giving you an in-depth idea of what it looks like and how it is written.

This book not only teaches you to write a business plan that reminds you about your vision but also this plan can help you get investors on board.

It also equips you with strategies to get funds at the best possible rates and also to minimize the costs involved in running a business.

It gives you an in-depth understanding of positioning your brand in the market to gain the attention of your target audience and thus derive maximum profit.

Moreover, you can also use it for competitions related to showcasing plans for their businesses. The book is used by many entrepreneurs and is recommended to every small business.

Book Link- The Successful Business Plan

There’s enough information here to help you get almost any business started. This is a proven source, for it’s been through several re-prints since 1991.

Jeffrey Brown (via Goodreads)

3. The Founder’s Dilemma

Goodreads rating: 4.01/5

The book, The Founder’s dilemma, is one of the best business plan books by Noam Wasserman. Apart from this, he has written another bestseller known as Life is a startup.

Noam Wasserman served as a professor at Harvard Business school for 13 years and is currently working at the University of Southern California as a founding Director at the Founder Central Initiative.

The book he wrote is an absolute beauty. Not because he has told some hidden secrets but because he has addressed a problem that many entrepreneurs often ignore.

And that problem is the company’s leadership. You might have a billion-dollar business idea and even have cracked the tech for it, but you might still fail because of listening to the wrong advice.

If you want your business to not suffer due to wrong decisions made by top leadership, you must read this book.

This book will help you in deciding whom you want to work with, and how to share the equity among co-founders and employees without being emotional.

However, this book might not be useful for small businesses but is a gem for someone planning to launch a high-growth business.

Book Link – The Founder’s Dilemma

I’ve never seen a book before that was particularly helpful – to a founder – about the wide range of issues a founder will face.

Brad Feld (via Goodreads)

4. The One-Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur

Goodreads rating: 3.86/5

The author of this mind-blowing book is none other than Jim Horan.

Known for his expertise in solving complex business problems , Jim has helped many entrepreneurs in turning their businesses into profit-making machines.

Jim Horan has also been a Fortune 500 executive and has written six books in the One Page Business Plan for Creative Entrepreneur series.

This book is quite different from other books as it is written for entrepreneurs who do not understand a lot about business figures but want to get started soon.

There’s a saying that if you cannot write your business plan on a single page, you are probably doing it wrong.

The book enables you to write it in a couple of hours which includes your mission, objectives, and plans.

It will be crisp and easy to understand for your investors as well as the team. In this fast-moving world, it becomes really uncomfortable to give a week preparing a business plan.

You have the idea and with the help of this book, you can turn the idea into a business in no time.

Having said that, this book is not recommended to someone who is building a high-growth company or a business with many manufacturing units.

This book is specially designed for small businesses to increase their profits and improve their vision.

Book Link – The One-Page Business Plan

One of my favorites! I have used these templates many times. It really forces you to be concise and focus on your vision. Highly recommend!

Teri Temme (via Goodreads)

5. The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan

Goodreads rating: 3.70/5

The author of this book Hal Shelton is an extremely experienced executive who has worked with many corporations, non-profits, and investment companies.

Hal Shelton completed his BS from Carnegie Mellon University and then pursued an MBA from the University of Chicago.

The secrets to writing a successful Business Plan focus on each section of the plan to help you create one that stands out in front of the investors.

The book also informs you about the common errors entrepreneurs make while writing. These errors sometimes cost very high as they might create confusion for investors as well as for the team.

You will also learn to do the market analysis and write the same in your plan. You will be able to answer questions like how big is the market and whether it is sufficient to run a successful business or not.

Investors receive a lot of business plans and going through each one of them is not feasible. Therefore writing an executive summary becomes extremely important.

The executive summary is an easy way to grab investors’ attention and help them understand your business without going through lengthy documents.

If you are launching a non-profit organization, this book can help you in many ways as a section of the book is dedicated to non-profits.

Moreover, the book also consists of secret strategies for writing a business plan and getting bank loans or funding from investors.

Book Link – The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan

This book provides a very solid foundation to write your plan. The author also provides excellent examples and instructions as to what to and not to do in writing your business plan

Kirk G. Meyer (via Goodreads)

6. Anatomy of a Business Plan

The author of this book, Linda Pinson, has worked very closely with the U.S. small business administration to write the government business plan publication.

She has also been honored as Education Advocate of the year and SBA regional women in Business advocate of the year.

Apart from this book, she has written many books on entrepreneurship such as Keeping the books and steps to start a small business startup.

This is one of the best business books for people who do not know anything about business plans.

This book provides you with an in-depth understanding of different business plans and will enable you to choose your ideal kind.

After reading the book, you will learn to update your plan according to the needs of your business and the position of your brand in the market.

The author also highlights the importance of mentioning the table of contents and executive summary in navigating smoothly through the book.

Apart from this, it also throws light on how you can efficiently market your business. You will also learn how to mention the financials of your company which is an important thing to do.

The Anatomy of a Business Plan also contains five real-life business plans which give you an understanding of how successful businesses can be explained in a few pages.

You also get a few worksheets which makes the overall experience of reading the book delightful.

Book Link – Anatomy of a Business Plan

This book is like “a mentor for your business plan”. Really informative and helpful.

Marvin Musfiq (via Goodreads)

7. The Complete Book of Business Plans

Goodreads rating: 3.47/5

The authors of this book are Brian Hazelgran and Joseph A. Covello. Both of them have a great understanding of how businesses operate in this book. They have told us that one size doesn’t fit all.

That means business plans for different businesses cannot be written in the same way.

This book contains 12+ plans that give you an idea of how you write one for yourself.

This book also focuses on how you should bring people into your business and what vision you should have to run the business for decades.

Moreover, when you read the book you will have to ask a lot of questions to yourself. The book will compel you to ask questions yourself that are immensely important before writing it.

Once you give satisfactory answers to the questions asked, you will feel more motivated to start a business , and writing a business will look like a cakewalk.

The above quote shows how important it is to plan your business and create a visionary plan for your business.

Book Link – The Complete Book of Business Plans

Great book encompassing everything about writing business plans.

Denny Troncoso (via Goodreads)

Bottom Line

All the Business plan books that we discussed above are going to help you in some way or the other.

But don’t worry you don’t need to read all of them. Just figure out where you stand and where you would want to go and select a book accordingly.

Innovative tools present in the industry like Upmetrics have helped many entrepreneurs in business and financial planning. If you need more help writing a perfect business plan, check out Upmetrics NOW and grow 2X faster.

Build your Business Plan Faster

with step-by-step Guidance & AI Assistance.

Related Articles On Business Plan Writing

• A Guide to Write an Effective Business Plan Executive Summary
• Formulating a Detailed Business Plan Outline
• Get Your Business Plan Written by Expert Writers
• How Many Pages Should a Good business Plan Be
• Understand the Operations Plan Section in a Business Plan
• How to Design a Compelling Business Plan Cover Page
• Guidelines for Formulating a Business Plan Table of Contents
• Importance of a Confidentiality Statement in a Business Plan

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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• Print Results
• Download as Excel

• Sample Pages

Business Plans Handbook

Product details.

• Business Plans Handbook Series

Features & Benefits

• Listing of organizations, agencies, and consultants
• glossary of small business terms
• and updated cumulative index.

Table of Contents

• Highlights.
• Introduction.
• Business Plans.
• Adventure Travel Planner.
• Pinnacle Hiking Adventures, Inc.
• Cartography Business.
• Main Street Mapworks, Inc.
• Costume Designer.
• Emily Flynn Costume Design, LLC.
• Demography Consultant.
• HealthMark Analytics Consulting, Inc.
• Dog Treats Business.
• Newsome's Awesome Dog Treats, LLC.
• Environmental Consultant.
• English Environmental Consulting, Inc.
• Exhibit Design Business.
• Merton Exhibit Design, LLC.
• Food Writer.
• Dawson Food Communications, Inc.
• Simpson Foresight Consulting, Inc.
• Gift Wrapping Business.
• Ribbons and Bows Gift Wrapping.
• Legal Nurse Consultant.
• Shriver Legal Nurse Consulting, Inc.
• Medical/Scientific Writing Business.
• Ralston Scientific Communications, Inc.
• Music Therapist.
• Fulton Music Therapy Services, Inc.
• Myotherapist.
• Mason Myotherapy, LLC.
• Perfusionist Business.
• Quality Perfusion Solutions, Inc.
• Plaster Contractor Business.
• Richard Kensington & Sons, Inc.
• Real Estate Writer.
• Write Home Communications, Inc.
• Spade Truck Business.
• Florida Spade Truck Services, LLC.
• Stunt Performer.
• Cole Foster Stunts, LLC.
• Taxidermy Business.
• Sterling Taxidermy Services, LLC.
• Appendixes.
• Appendix A.
• Business Plan Template.
• Fictional Plan 1 - Food Distributor.
• Fictional Plan 2 - Hardware Store.
• Appendix B.
• Associations.
• Consultants.
• SBA Regional Offices.
• Small Business Development Centers.
• Service Corps of Retired Executives Offices.
• Venture Capital & Financing Companies.
• Appendix C.
• Glossary of Small Business Terms.
• Appendix D.
• Cumulative Index.

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Ebook Business Plan: From writing to publishing

Starting an ebook business can be a great way to share your knowledge, reach a wider audience, and monetize your expertise. However, it's important to have a clear plan in place to ensure the success of your business, from writing to publishing. Here are some key elements to include in an ebook business plan:

Idea and Niche: Decide on the topic of your ebook, and the specific niche you will target. Research the market to ensure that there is demand for your idea.

Writing and Editing: Start writing your ebook, and work with an editor to ensure that it is high-quality and polished.

Design and Formatting: Hire a designer to create an attractive cover and format the ebook for various ebook platforms.

Marketing and Promotion: Develop a plan for promoting and marketing your ebook, including utilizing social media, online advertising, and email marketing.

Distribution and Sales: Determine where and how you will sell your ebook, including online marketplaces such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and Barnes & Noble Press, as well as your own website.

Financial Projections: Create projected financials, including projected income and expenses, to help guide your decision-making and measure the success of your business.

Legal and Compliance: Research and comply with any legal and tax requirements related to your ebook business.

Continuous Improvement: Regularly evaluate the performance of your ebook and the effectiveness of your marketing and promotion efforts, and make adjustments as needed.

Diversify income streams: Diversify income streams by creating additional products like audiobooks, print books, and merchandise.

Leverage technology: Utilize technology to automate and streamline various aspects of the business, such as email marketing, social media posting, and financial tracking.

An ebook business plan should include clear objectives, a defined target audience, a solid business model, a comprehensive marketing and promotion strategy, and financial projections. Additionally, it's important to be familiar with legal and compliance matters, continuously improve the business, diversify income streams and leverage technology.

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