Where to get help with a business plan

Fionn101

Hi All,

I'm wondering where would I go to get help with drawing up a business plan?

I have a model for a new business venture, and while I can deliver on the technical side of things I'd like to find someone who can present this to the bank in the most professional way.

I know there are city enterprise board 'agents' who will help you to do up a business plan , but really I'm just looking to pay a professional to look at my business model (confidentially of course) and then go draw up a plan to get funding for this venture, perhaps even make the pitch to the bank / investors on my behalf.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Fionn

JohnRabbit

There are a few firms that do this that I know of www.FocusBusinessAdvisors.com, www.BizSales.ie, www.BizSalesNI.com or just look up business plans in www.LocalLINK.ie for other people that do this.

Best of luck with the new venture.

ImDave

Any good accountancy firm should be able to advice on a business plan, particularly the financial aspects. That won't come too cheap however. I was quoted €1500, and that was for just preparation of cash flow and Income Statements. It may be worth it in the long run however.

Fionn101

thanks for the replies , and keep 'em coming.

has anyone any personal recommendations?

I'm looking for a bit more of a personal relationship than an accountancy firm can offer, as this is a blue chip startup I'd need to bring this advisor up to speed on the product and target audience.

Ideally I'm trying to find out about getting a business loan from the bank and then also some aid with the setup of the company , stuff like amount of employees needed , costs , office space, hardware leasing and the biggest problem of advertising withing my chosen customer base.

As I said, I have the entire technical details covered as this is my area of expertise , but going out alone means hiring a few people and sourcing a new premises.

The other worry now is that for this to work , I will need to leave my current employment to work at this full time, and of course I'm going to need an income from somewhere, so can the business loan also be used to account for my wages from day one ???? before the comapny actually has any customers so to speak ???

This is probably my main worry , how do I afford to leave my job and dedicate myself to this 100%.

I've had assurances from existing clients that they want to continue to hire my skills but I doubt they would pay in advance

Thanks again for reading

Fionn

Mr.Boots

What type of business is it?
I have done a couple of business plans and to be honest they arnt that hard to do....just a bit time consuming and frustrating at times.
Regarding the issue of money.....Do you not have your owen savings to keep you going untill you have some cash coming in??
I think most banks will be looking for you to put up 20% or 25% of the total amount to show your commitment to the project.
In your financials in the business plan you will have to account for where the money in going and what it is being spent on.

Fionn101

It's an IT company based around the financial sector, and no I don't have enough in savings to cover my ass from leaving work , just back from two great holidays and so I'd need some dollar to tide me over.

also i would need to hire around 4 extra people from the start though , which is absolutly essential. And then I'd need around 20K for a P.R. launch

I'm certain this will turn a profit as clients have vowed to do whatever it takes to keep me running their systems , basically I'm cutting out the middle man (who does no work)

your thoughts Mr Boots ????

information

Fionn101 wrote: »

and then go draw up a plan to get funding for this venture, perhaps even make the pitch to the bank / investors on my behalf.

Thats not how it works, bank/investors will not deal with a third party in a start-up.
They want to talk and sound out the person who is runing the company.

If you don't do it yourself you will not know how to run the business or what your strategy is.


Questions to ask yourself.

1. What is our Customer Value Proposition (why will they buy our service)
2. What is our Unique Selling Point (why will they buy off us and not the competitors)

3. What is our sales process (how will we sell the product)

4. How much do we need to earn each month to break even

staff 4@50k a pop + 11% prsi = 222k
Office = 20k
Overheads Comms,Ins,Account etc = 20k
Total = 262 K
21.83k a month to break even, before you even think about a salary for yourself or paying back the loan and interest

5. How many of those 4 staff are sales ?

Bandara

you may not need anyone to do it for you, in fact its better if you do it yourself as you are the best seller of your concept. I just have my accountant (get yourself a good polished accountant) to do the financials with me and come to the bank meetings to explain any specific financial queries they ask.

Mr.Boots

information wrote: »

Thats not how it works, bank/investors will not deal with a third party in a start-up.
They want to talk and sound out the person who is runing the company.

If you don't do it yourself you will not know how to run the business or what your strategy is.


Questions to ask yourself.

1. What is our Customer Value Proposition (why will they buy our service)
2. What is our Unique Selling Point (why will they buy off us and not the competitors)

3. What is our sales process (how will we sell the product)

4. How much do we need to earn each month to break even

staff 4@50k a pop + 11% prsi = 222k
Office = 20k
Overheads Comms,Ins,Account etc = 20k
Total = 262 K
21.83k a month to break even, before you even think about a salary for yourself or paying back the loan and interest

5. How many of those 4 staff are sales ?

Some great points here.
But also dont forget about paying your VAT!!



Fionn......I think spending 20k on a launch is crazy!!
Try and get something in writing from the prospective clients to say that they will move their business over to you.....the bank will like this.
Also ask yourself...do you realy need four staff???
If i were you i would do some serious thinking before progressing any further with this venture, maybe leave it a year so you have time to save some money and get your business plan together, do more research ect.

antoinolachtnai

why do you need to spend 20k on a launch if you already have a customer base?

I wouldn't go on holiday again for a while if you want to start your own business. Essentially the idea is that you put together four weeks of holiday pay and eight weeks of savings and that is enough to carry you through for 8 weeks. By the end of that, you should be able to extract a few euros from your clients.

Hiring four people at the outset? Then you need a lot more savings. Unless you have some serious savings this won't work. The bank won't put up too much money for this, unless maybe you have signed contracts.

You could always borrow personally, maybe on the strength of your house, but I wouldn't advise it.

homeOwner

Fionn101 wrote: »

....as this is a blue chip startup I'd need to bring this advisor up to speed on the product and target audience.

What do you mean by "blue chip startup", thats a bit of an oxymoron! Be careful about using such terminology on the business plan.

Fionn101 wrote:

The other worry now is that for this to work , I will need to leave my current employment to work at this full time, and of course I'm going to need an income from somewhere, so can the business loan also be used to account for my wages from day one ???? before the comapny actually has any customers so to speak ???

This is probably my main worry , how do I afford to leave my job and dedicate myself to this 100%.

From my (limited) knowledge banks wont hand out a loan which is going to pay your salary. The idea would be that you use the loan to build your business and customer base and you take a salary out of revenue generated. If revenue is small you take small wages....etc.... Also you have to make loan repayments out of revenue too.

Why do you think you will need 20K on a launch? Maybe look at doing something cheaper. You have a few potential clients, focus on getting repeat business with them and seeing if you can use them as references. 20K is a lot of money to "waste" on a launch unless you'r business is a restaurant or somthing then I'd say it would be worth while paying a lot of money for a decent glitsy party. Otherwise what are you going to get out of it?

Good luck with your plans. Let us know how you get on.

Fionn101

thanks again for the solid advice.

I see a few comments about 20k for a launch, yeah I know nothing of the prices to advertise and really it's only select advertising to a certain group, so 20k is way over the top in hindsight.

I won't be using 'blue chip startup' or 'secret recipe' in the business plan.

but right now I think we need to concentrate on what is the competition in the market and who are our potential clients.

I think that 4 people at startup is perhaps the minimum due to the nature of the work, hence why more research is needed.

hmmm, a lot to consider....

Heisenberg.

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