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Free fillable workbook

The Better Backwards Business Plan

A fast and free business plan template. It's focused on making money so you can earn a living.

Free, no signup. Type in your answers or print it to fill in the blanks by hand. It's 15 pages of the things we say most often to business owners, from a legal team that has helped hundreds of businesses succeed.

Download the Fillable Workbook
Download The Better Backwards Business Plan workbook

How to use it

Work the first five pages in order. Each one builds on the last, and by page five your executive summary writes itself.

  1. Plan for profits. Use easy math to create a plan that pays the owner every month.
  2. Better, not cheaper. Find the difference your customers care about, and never let it be price.
  3. Make selling easy. Give your customers a choice that guides them toward a win-win sale.
  4. Your big promise. One sentence for each type of customer you serve.
  5. Go where they are looking. Don’t waste marketing. Plan to reach your customers quickly.

The rest of the workbook covers the decisions that sink new businesses: which risks to take, how to sell without pushing, picking a name, contracts, profit, seasonality, succession and your first hire. Do them in any order.

How to make a financials-first business plan

Don't be cheaper

Plan written? Your next steps

Turn the plan into a real business

Every page of the workbook ends with a note about where a lawyer helps. These are the three steps most new owners take next.

Start Here

Step 1: Start your LLC

Separate your business from your personal life, with an operating agreement written for how you actually work.

  • LLC formation and EIN
  • Custom operating agreement
  • Attorney-built launch documents
  • Add 5 months of legal support with a Launch plan
From $499
Launch Kit: $499 single-owner · $599 multi-owner, plus state fees
Start My LLC

Step 2: Trademark your brand

Page 9 helped you pick a name on purpose. Now make sure nobody else can use it.

  • Professional clearance search
  • USPTO filing fee included (1 class)
  • One office action response
  • 12 months of brand monitoring
All-in total
$1,990 Save $240
$310 search, then 12 × $140/month (non-member: 12 × $160/month)
Non-member: $2,230
Protect My Brand

Step 3: Set up your partnership to last

The cheapest time to decide who runs what, who puts in money and what happens if someone leaves is before you open, while everyone still gets along.

  • Founders Agreement workshop with your partners
  • Roles, money and decision rules in writing
  • A plan for when a partner wants out
  • Works alongside your operating agreement
Starting together? Add it to any Launch plan
+$195
One-time, on top of your Launch plan
Starting With a Partner

Already up and running? Momentum membership gives you a legal department for $95/month: unlimited email answers from an attorney, trademark monitoring and member pricing on everything above.

When you reach these pages

Pages 7, 8, 10 and 11 · Risk, sales and contracts

Get it in writing

Bring the deal you wrote down on page 10. We’ll turn it into the napkin version, then the real one.

Contract services

Page 13 · Who runs it tomorrow?

Plan for the unexpected

Operating agreements, buy-sell provisions and vesting agreements, plus a will, which costs less on a membership plan.

Wills for business owners · Talk to us about succession

Page 14 · Hire your opposite

Free hiring guides

Offer letters, contractor agreements and the employee-or-contractor call, written for your state.

Iowa Employment Law Guide · Texas Employment Law Guide

Business plan template FAQ

What should a simple business plan include?
Four things most owners skip: what you need to earn each month, what makes you better (not cheaper) than the competition, the packages you'll sell and what they cost, and where your customers already look for someone like you. Once those are settled, the executive summary is one sentence per type of customer. This template walks through each, in that order.
Why work a business plan backwards?
Most templates start with the executive summary, which is the hardest part to write before you know your numbers. Starting with the money turns pricing into simple math, and every later page builds on it. By the time you reach the summary, you've already written it.
Is this business plan template really free?
Yes. It's a free fillable workbook with no signup. You can type into it and save your answers in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Preview on a Mac, or print it and fill it in by hand.
Do I need a business plan to start an LLC?
No. You can form an LLC without one, and no state asks to see it. But a plan tells you what to put in your operating agreement, what to charge and what to trademark, so it's worth an afternoon before you file.
Why is a law firm giving away a business plan?
Because the legal work goes better when the plan comes first. Your tiers become the scope in your contracts, your name becomes your trademark, and your partners' roles become your founders agreement. We'd rather you show up with the thinking done.

Free 20-minute consultation

Talk Through Your Plan: Free Consultation

Choose a time that works for you. You can update the suggested details before you book.

1. Fit2. Time3. DetailsDone
Is this related to a lawsuit?
Still needed: Lawsuit answer, Meeting topic, Iowa or Texas

This workbook is general information for business owners, not legal advice for your situation.