CHAPTER 1 - PLAN FOR YOUR SUCCESS
Capitalizing your
business is a full time endeavor. Developing your business plan is
the single most important step you can take toward your success. To
maximize your potential to receive capital, it is vital that you develop
a business plan that will guide your company and allow outsiders to
picture where you are going and how you plan to get there. Take great
care in preparing your plan, it is the road map that will lead you
where you want to go. Lenders
or Investors, which way do I go? They tend to look at transactions
from very different perspectives. Lenders are mostly concerned with
"Can you repay?". While investors are more interested in "How far
can you go?" There are certain items of information common to both.
That will be the information to be disclosed at the start.
Executive Summary
This is it! Grab them here and you may never lose them. This summary
is an overview description of your product or service, its market,
your niche, the management, the mission, company structure, pro
forma highlights, funding request, use of funds and proposed terms.
No more than two pages, sell the sizzle not the steak.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
WORK SECTION
Give a brief yet concise explanation of the following items. Remember,
you will fully detail and support each of these later on in your
plan, so keep it short.
 Desired Amount:
Desired Terms:
Company Name:
Industry Type:
Time in Business:
Brief Principal Backgrounds:
Use of Funds:
Collateral or Equity Offered:
Narrative
Briefly describe what your company is all about.
History
Your reader needs a summary of how this venture came to
be. Where did the idea come from? How did it evolve? Who is responsible?
Be concise but give dates, background, etc. Paint a short picture
from how you started, to where you are today.
Mission Statement
One sentence defining what the Company is all about. Think
about it and "make it mean something". Don't just write
a bunch of flowery words.
Stage
Clearly identify what stage of funding you are at. Is your business
a start-up, initial growth, positioning for going public, seeking
a strategic partner, looking for near future acquisition or sale?
Market Niche
It is important for any funding source to know where you fit in
the economic food chain. What niche is your business exploiting
that will make it jump over your competition? What are you doing
that is better, faster, or newer than what everyone else is doing?
For this part you must be very detailed. Remember the investors
know nothing about your business. You must prove to them you know
what you are doing or are about to do.
Market Research
This is yours or a third parties research that supports your determination
that there is a market and a need for your product or service. This
will form the back bone of support for the price points and revenue
assumptions contained in your pro forma projections indicating to
investors or lenders how your company can turn a substantial profit.
Financial Overview
Here is where you briefly highlight, graph and preview your outstanding
financial projections. This provides a glimpse into where your gross
sales, net income, net worth, etc. should be in years one , two
and three. Remember this is only an overview. It should contain
no details or support information. That will come later in your
financial pro forma section.
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