Business plan and projected growth?

Question

When you write a business plan what excatly do you put in it and how can you project growth if it is a new business and you don't now what it will make in a year?

Answer 1

I just finished writing my business plan. I had the same question before I started. There are websites that have business plan templates. Depending on where you live, there may be a business program you can take that will assist you in creating your business plan. That is what I did and it was wonderful. They went through every aspect of the business plan. The program I took also offered financial assistance for the duration of the program.

Another alternative is to hire a company to create your business plan for you. I wouldn't recommend doing this if you are looking for financing because financial institutions/lenders will ask you questions about your business plan and if you can't back up what is written in your business plan, chances are they won't finance your business.

Answer 2

Ok, a business plan is viewed as the road map of your business.  It shows where you start, how you got here, and where you plan on taking the enterprise.  You can hire consultants who will be happy to take your money in exchange for developing the thing for you, but you are going to be in the same boat as before, sans a significant amount of cash.  You are better off if you do it yourself, using what you know about yourself and the business you are running.  You will need a summary of what it is that you do, who does what, who your customers are, who your suppliers are, and what makes your business so very special.  You will also need to prepare some financial information for the document.  If it is already in existence, you will need to provide a balance sheet, income statement, and potentially a statement of changes in financial position.  You should also prepare a schedule of investors and their contributions to capital.  Next on the hit list is the budget, or projected revenues and expenses; generally these figures should be prepared as a variable (what-if) format .  Finally, users of the plan will want to know what your plans are for the business, is it going to grow, or what will happen to it down the line (some companies never grow, they have their niche, they stick to it, and it works fine as is.)  Anyway, most companies try to figure out how the business is going to expand and if it does what the effects of that will be on operations.  A successful business might grow, but often unsuccessful companies do as well.  How are you going to handle a two-fold increase in your business?  Which positions and when will you hire them?

After you have your plan, you will know exactly what you are doing and it will sound like it when you talk to the banker.