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Business plan template

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  • 31-08-2011 11:48pm
    #1
    MightyDucks
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭


    Does anybody have template business plan for a loan applacation as I haven't a clue where to start?


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    #2
    drunkmonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 28,199 ✭✭✭✭drunkmonkey


    You have to make assumptions on your figures, try and have them accurate, your Profit and Loss projections are critical not only to get the loan but to make sure the business makes you money and the bank makes a return.
    I think it's one of the big things the bank will concentrate on. Its hard to know what to tell you without knowing what kind of business your thinking of.
    Remember the assumptions and concentrate on proven experience

    Start with heading like these and see how you get on. Shouldn't take you to long, don't get bogged down in the detail, concentrate on the figures. I'll try and dig out a profitability template for you if I can find it, get that right and everything else will fall in place.

    Sample Plan.
    CONTENTS
    Section

    1. Executive Summary
    - Summary Financial Projections


    2. Business Description
    - Promoter
    - Advisors
    - Products and Services
    - Long Term Aim for the Business
    - SWOT Analysis

    3. Market Analysis
    - Target Market
    - Marketing Strategy
    - Pricing

    4. Staffing
    - Staffing
    - Training Plans
    - Operations

    5. Financial Projections ( the scary part:eek:)

    Best of Luck!!!


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    #3
    BuffyBot
    Registered Users Posts: 24,924 ✭✭✭✭BuffyBot


    You might find better advice here :) Thread moved.


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    #4
    way2tall
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭way2tall


    There are lots of Business Plan templates on the web - all of which follow the same sort of formula..

    What you plan to do

    Why your product or service is 'different'

    Who you are going to sell to

    How you are going to sell it

    Technical Details / Strategy / Implementation

    Team / Existing Customers / past history - Factors that increase the probability that you will be successful

    What drunkenmonkey said though is great advice, in my opinion, start with the financial model - the other sections are all about the narrative that makes sense of the financial model.. and adds qualitative

    A financial model should demonstrate ..

    1. Your key assumptions - Market Size, Market Penetration / Customer Acquistion Rate, Manufacturing / Delivery Costs, Selling Price, Operational Costs / Overhead

    2. I have always started with a simple approach and tried to make something work for 12 months .. and then worried about the 3 or 5 year projections.. All the time you are expanding on some core numbers ..

    Revenue from Sales - Costs = Earnings

    If my market size is X .. and I have research that demonstrates that I can capture 5 customers a month then I can build a model showing my core drivers .. I can then complicate and extend it by 'factoring' customer growth lag, by factoring seasonal peaks, by factoring 'boosts' from increased sales efforts (for example I might spend 5000 on promotional efforts that will pop sales up for 3 months)

    I then can demonstrate my cashflow ..

    If it is for a sizable loan - then it is possible that it might be worth talking to an accountant - once you have the story .. they are very good at turning it to a financial model and also at questioning things that seem improbable - they might also be tuned into what a bank is looking for ..

    Sorry.. this was meant to be a short concise mail .. agreeing with DrunkMonkey ... but turned into a bit of a ramble.. will stop now ...


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    #5
    Admor Tony
    Registered Users Posts: 35 ✭Admor Tony


    MightyDucks wrote: »
    Does anybody have template business plan for a loan applacation as I haven't a clue where to start?

    Try this template:

    http://waterfordbusiness.com/planner/

    A word of caution. I think templates are an excellent tool to help people write a structured Business Plan, however you should seek professional advice when you have written the Plan and before you submit to a bank. In my experience the quality of many Plans (even those based on a template) is low.

    I would say the absence of any written Business Plan stops many people getting to the first stage where a bank may listen and the absence of a good written Plan can be the difference between getting the money or not.

    Oh and to pre-empt the bank bashers who say they are not lending to anyone, 'better to have tried and failed than not tried at all'.

    I have some Top Tips on creating Business Plans, if you want them just send me a message.


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