Planning templates & free guides

Download our free templates to help you organise your thoughts and develop your plans.

Business planning templates

You wouldn’t build a house without a detailed blueprint of your plans, a set of tools and a clear idea of the costs. We feel the same way about building a business. That’s why we require our applicants to provide a range of key business documents with your Start Up Loan application. Our free downloadable templates are designed to help you organise your business idea, develop your plans and figure out how to make your start up work.

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Business Plan template

Need a template for a business plan? Our business plan template gives you a structured way to organise your business ideas and goals.

A female florist, sat in thought looking holding a calculator

Cash Flow Forecast template

Cash flow forecast template - free download. Use the cash flow template to make a cash flow forecast by automatically calculating expected earnings and expenses

A young man wearing glasses, sat at a coffee shop bar at a laptop and holding a peice of paper

Personal Survival Budget template

Use our personal survival budget template to calculate how much of your monthly income is left over after all your costs and expenses have been paid.

Our free guides

Our guides are packed full of practical tips, examples and ‘how-to’ information and, best of all, you can read them on your device or print them out.

Whether it’s advice on conducting market research, analysing your strengths and weaknesses or optimising your website to find more customers online, we’ve got it covered. See our full menu below to find the right guide for your needs.

The essential guide to starting a business

Conducting market research on customers and competitors
Choosing a company structure
Figuring out your insurance and tax requirements
Developing your business strategy and sales forecast
Writing your business plan

Making business finance work for you - download

Designed to help businesses know what type of finance is right for them
Discover the types of finance you can use to start a business
Learn how finance can support your business growth
Understand how to consolidate debt or purchase a major asset
Read chapters on working capital, importing/exporting, R&D and more

Download (.pdf, 2.21mb)

Guide to business resilience - download

Offering practical tips on how your business can respond to recession
Making your business energy efficient
Late payments and how to combat them
Accessing finance as a response to the cost of living crisis
Supply chain pressures and solutions

Download (.pdf, 855.38kb)

Read the Essential guide to marketing

How to research your target market and test your business idea
Creating a marketing plan and setting goals effectively
Building a business website and attracting online customers
Low-cost options for on and offline advertising, affiliate marketing and PR
Free and cheap ways to market your business on a shoestring budget

PR toolkit - download

Crafting effective press releases
Working with journalists
Engaging customers with social media
Maximising your website

Download (.pdf, 2.35mb)

Social Media toolkit - download

Choosing the right social media platforms for your business
Creating a social media strategy
Techniques you can use to save time and money
Using social media advertising to build your business
How to monitor competitors on social media

Download (.pdf, 1.28mb)