I am always coming up with wacky and creative business ideas. Most of the time though, they are already taken. Is there really anything out there that hasn’t been thought of already? Sometimes I wonder.

Anyways, everytime I think of one of these ideas I always run it by my dad because he’s a very successfull business owner. You know what the first thing he always says to me? “Where’s the business plan?” I usually respond with something like “screw the business plan… this idea rocks.” Unfortunately, that’s not how it works in the real world. As much as I hate business plans, and I’m sure you do too, they are absolutely necessary when starting a business. You could have thought of the wheel, but if you don’t have a plan for putting that idea into action you will never succeed.

Without a business plan, no one will listen to you. Want a small business loan from the bank? Show me your business plan. Want to sell products in a new store? Show me your business plan. Want to lease some space in the mall? Show me your business plan.

In today’s post I want to provide all the to-be entrepreneurs out there a couple of sources for business plan structures and templates. These sites will help you organize and write your business plan.