Tools and Templates

A comprehensive business plan is essential to starting a new business if you want it to be successful. It’s easy to get started writing your plan with our Business Plan Template Instructions guide and this Business Plan Template.

Managing cash flow is imperative for any small business. By predicting your financial highs and lows during the year, you feel more in control and can make better decisions. Our Business Cash Flow Excel template is a great tool for improved insights, and getting started is easy with these key estimates.

It’s easy for businesses to fall into the trap of offering big discounts like their larger competitors. Often times, they do not realize the impact that it will have on profitability.

A well-thought-out marketing plan is a vital tool for any business, as it becomes the strategy to promote the brand and acquire customers. This easy-to-use Word template will help you set clear goals and objectives for a successful marketing strategy.

Traditional business plans are lengthy, take too long to develop and are often times never revisited throughout the year. That’s why First Bank recommends the Lean Business Plan. It takes about one hour to create, is only one page and focuses on the most important aspects of your plan.

One of the most difficult steps in preparing your business plan, is distinguishing the difference between financial projections and cash flow projections. This is especially true when different product lines have different payment terms for customers and suppliers in different product lines.

This Checklist to Start Your Business is a great, 10-step overview of what you need to focus on during the business planning stages of starting a successful business. Go through each of these steps to pinpoint anything you’ve missed in the development of your business plan.

A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) helps you take an overview of what is or could happen in your business or industry.