Connect with owners, coaches, or business associations to help gain a better understanding of what life as an entrepreneur, sole proprietor, or franchisee will be like.

Reach out to family, friends or tap into your social network and ask their opinion on your business idea as your first "focus group". It doesn't have to be formal.

Identify your unique selling point to ensure your business idea will stand out from the crowd. For more details and guidance, use our Interactive Checklist.

Find out if your business idea could work.

Use our Interactive Checklist to determine what you'll need to succeed, which includes detailed information on.

• business models
• determining start-up capital, costs, and profit potential
• SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and competitive analyses
• your unique selling point
• a marketing plan

You can download our Business Plan template to read through before filling it out. Knowing what you need to focus on will help hone your idea.

Starting a new business requires an investment of time as well as money to get a product or service from idea to reality.

Crunch the numbers using our Start-up Costs template to figure out what you need spend up front (e.g. equipment, rent, production costs, etc.) and what you'll potentially earn, depending on capacity and pricing, to not only break even, but earn a profit from your business.

Whether you're building up the courage to follow your dream or you're an experienced entrepreneur, the more information you have for a financial plan, the better prepared you’ll be.

Figure out your monthly payments if you apply for a bank loan with our Loan Calculator.

Help determine the capital required for initial and ongoing expenses by downloading our Start-up Costs template.

Manage your cashflow and help calculate what you need to keep your business running successfully with our Cash Flow Calculator.