Send me an email and I can send you some resources. Also note that it's probably a better idea to write a slide deck than a business plan -- in Silicon Valley anyways, a deck is universally preferred.

I don't think the BP per se is all that useful, but the process of writing it will force you to think about and research a lot of your business. The end result should be greater clarity in your thoughts and goals for your company and an awesome 10 slides ppt.

Sequoia provides a nice playbook for how to craft a business plan.

http://www.sequoiacap.com/ideas

Guy Kawasaki's tips are also useful

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

FWIW I created a plan using these guidelines and had some decent success. 90% of it is just common sense. How will you make something that people want for a lot less than you can sell it for. As long as you answer that you will be fine.

http://venturehacks.com - read up on "the deck" and, well, the entire site.

I wanted to write the same advice. Read that blog, from the beginning! And stop writing a business plan! You don't need one (at least as long it is not a task from one of your professors).

I would suggest these sources, too: http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/ <- how to make your customers pay, before you build a product? http://steveblank.com/ <- stop doing "business" stuff. Go out of the door and talk to your customers. They pay your bills! http://www.avc.com/ <- one other guy, who likes to pay big bills on risky investments, and how he sees the world.

Put together an awesome slide deck for investors.

For yourself? Put together something that's more of an execution plan, than a "business plan". Cut out the bullshit speak most think they need to write for b-plans. No one else besides your team should be the target audience. 10 pages MAX. Main focus? Customer acquisition.

How you write the plan depends greatly on the intended audience. But any way you look at it the notion of writing the 50 page business plan is over.

Instead of writing this 50 page monstrosity your focus should be on the product/users.

Below is the best place I've found regarding business plans. The new business plan is short and practical and does not take you months to create.

http://www.thefailingpoint.com/2009/08/gettingstarted/write-...

I like to start with an introduction of what you are going to accomplish. No more than one page, hopefully only 1/2 page. Then a SWOT. Then a SlideDeck (I use Prezi.com).

I wouldn't go down the road of a proper 'business plan' unless you are going to a bank for a loan. You won't follow it, and you won't up date it.

Get the basics down, and then go from there.

Assume that even what you create won't be seen by anybody else. It is often more of a guide for yourself (depending on your situation/organization of course).

Start here: http://www.quickmba.com/entre/bplan/ The rest of the site is a very good general business reference, complete with recommended reading. I used it while I was completing my MBA and found it to be a good high to medium level reflection of what I learned.