New Business Ideas & Resources
New business ideas are often not new ideas at all, nor do they need to be. A new business may, indeed, introduce a new technology. But you may simply target a new customer, or find a more efficient way of doing business, or even just just be the first to open in a new geographic area. Many new businesses which are grown into successful enterprises are not based on some new hot idea, but rather they entered into established industries with nothing but a leg up on their competition. On this page you will find resources to help you have that competitive advantage when you start your new business.
Your new business could be anything from a coffee shop to a wholesale distributor. Here are a handful of selected industries with sample business plans that you can view and use to generate ideas for your new business.
New Business Guides
We've gathered valuable resources for starting a new business in several popular categories, use these guides to help start your new business.
New Business Help:
Starting a new business is made easier with the right help.
- Start a business - A six step process to follow when starting a new business
- Business plan template - Once you have a business idea, use this fill-in-the-blank business plan template in the format preferred by banks and the SBA
- How-to Startup Articles - A collection of informative articles on all aspects of small business written by entrepreneurs and industry experts
New Business Resources
Business startup help
Browse our library of over 100 sample business plans from a variety of industries
This business plan template follows the format preferred by the SBA and lenders
Our business calculators make it easy to quickly evaluate different aspects of your business
Get a free PDF of the "start a business" section from Tim Berry's
classic business plan guide Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning
Need more help creating a business plan to start or grow your company? Business Plan Pro is the most popular business plan software, featuring 500+ sample plans, SBA-approved formats, built-in market research data, and more.