In a recent national survey, only 33 percent of business owners said they have a formal business plan, yet those with a plan also have significantly higher expectations for the year ahead than those without. These results were among survey findings pointing to the value of business plans as Wells Fargo introduces The Business Plan Center, a new Wells Fargo Works for Small BusinessSM offering that provides online tools to help business owners create and update their own business plans.

“Many business owners have business plans in their heads. We want to help every business owner put a plan in writing, if they don’t have one already, so they have a guide to organize their goals, improve decision-making and focus on activities that will help their business thrive.”

In the January Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, business owners who said they had a formal, written plan reported much greater optimism for 2015 – their future outlook score (+51) was 12 points higher than business owners without a plan (+39) and 8 points higher than business owners overall (+43). Further, those business owners with plans compared to those without were more likely to report that in the next 12 months they expect to:

• Increase jobs at their businesses (32 percent of business owners with plans versus 19 percent of business owners without plans).

• Grow revenues (62 percent versus 51 percent)

• Increase capital spending (39 percent versus 28 percent)

• Apply for new credit (26 percent versus 14 percent).

To read the full Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index Survey, click here.