A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a current and pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make good business decisions. Because it provides specific and organized information about your company and how you will repay borrowed money, a good business plan is a crucial part of any loan application. Additionally, it informs sales personnel, suppliers, and others about your operations and goals.

The importance of a comprehensive, thoughtful business plan cannot be overemphasized. Much hinges on it: outside funding, credit from suppliers, management of your operation and finances, promotion and marketing of your business, and achievement of your goals and objectives.

"The business plan is a necessity. If the person who wants to start a small business can't put a business plan together, he or she is in trouble," says Robert Krummer, Jr., chairman of First Business Bank in Los Angeles.

Despite the critical importance of a business plan, many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to preparing a written document. They argue that their marketplace changes too fast for a business plan to be useful or that they just don't have enough time. But just as a builder won't begin construction without a blueprint, eager business owners shouldn't rush into new ventures without a business plan.

 

 

 
               

No up front fees to carry your project!  We will NEVER charge you up front commission fees, diligence fees, or "set-up" fees.  If we can not raise funds, we will not collect our 3% commission. 

Of course we are not in business to provide free business plans and Regulation D private placement memorandums, and we will charge you for these documents if they are required.  However, if we feel your project is worthy, and you have already had your documentation professionally prepared elsewhere, we will draft our commission agreement for your review and will get started upon receipt of the signed agreement.

Click Here for Documentation Fee Details

Click Here For Sample 1: Family Child Care and Debt Services

Click Here For Sample 2: Martin Medical Research

Click Here For Sample 3: Welby's Productions

 

What Will I Need to be Considered for SBA Loan Assistance?

Even though the SBA qualifying standards are more flexible than other types of loans, lenders will generally ask for certain information before deciding to use an SBA loan program. Generally, a business will need the following documentation to evaluate your loan request:

  • Business profile- A document describing type of business, annual sales, number of employees, length of time in business, and ownership.
  • Loan request- A description of how loan funds will be used; should include purpose, amount, and type of loan.
  • Collateral- Description of collateral offered to secure the loan, including equity in the business, borrowed funds, and available cash.
  • Business financial statements- Complete financial statements for the past three years and current interim financial statements.
  • Personal financial statements- Statements of owners, partners, officers, and stockholders owning 20% or more of the business.

The strength and accuracy of your financial statements will be the primary basis for the lending decision, so be sure that yours are carefully prepared and up-to-date. The most important documents in your financial statements are:

  • Balance sheets from the last three fiscal year-ends.
  • Income statements revealing your business profits or losses for the last three years.
  • Cash flow projections indicating how much cash you expect to generate to repay the loan.
  • Accounts receivable and payable aging, breaking your receivables and payables in to 30, 60, 90, and past 90-day old categories.
  • Personal financial statements from you and your business partners listing all personal assets, liabilities, and monthly payments as well as your personal tax returns for the past three years.

What do Venture capital firms look for?

One way of explaining the different ways in which banks and venture capital firms evaluate a small business seeking funds, put simply, is: Banks look at its immediate future, but are most heavily influenced by its past. Venture capitalists look to its longer run future. To be sure, venture capital firms and individuals are interested in many of the same factors that influence bankers in their analysis of loan applications from smaller companies. All financial people want to know the results and ratios of past operations, the amount and intended use of the needed funds, and the earnings and financial condition of future projections. But venture capitalists look much more closely at the features of the product and the size of the market than do commercial banks. Banks are creditors. They're interested in the pro­duct/market position of the company to the extent they look for assurance that this service or product can provide steady sales and generate sufficient cash flow to repay the loan. They look at projections to be certain that owner/managers have done their homework.

Venture capital firms are owners. They hold stock in the company, adding their invested capital to its equity base. Therefore, they examine existing or planned products or services and the potential markets for them with extreme care. They invest only in firms they believe can rapidly increase sales and generate substantial profits. Why?  Because venture capital firms invest for long-term capital, not for interest income. A common estimate is that they look for three to five times their investment in five or seven years. Of course venture capitalists don't realize capital gains on all their investments. Certainly they don't make capital gains of 300 percent to 500 percent except on a very limited portion of their total investments. But their intent is to find venture projects with this appreciation potential to make up for investments that aren't successful.               

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