Formulating a Sound Business Plan
Monday, April 18th, 2011A business plan is meant to set out your business strategy. It will show how you expect the company to fare over the years, and how financial development will occur. The plan must include what a business is, what the goals are, and be based on research. The plan should have a progression from startup to profitability. Without a business plan it will be hard to get a business loan to fund your endeavor. As the business grows you must also modify the business plan to incorporate any changes to show where the business will be headed in the future. A current business plan will be asked for when you speak with a loan officer.
In order to construct a business plan you have to do your research. What competition do you face? What is the current market doing? If the market is down and consumers are not buying products it is hard to start a successful business, let alone get the funding for one. Right now the government is offering small business loans to try and stimulate the economy. While the banks are being freer with this money they still expect a business plan based on extensive market research.
The business plan should incorporate information on the loan you are trying to obtain. Information such as how you will repay the debt should be included in the business plan. Show the bank or lending company that you have considered several avenues and that you know exactly what you can afford in a loan. If you know $250,000 at 30 years with 6.5 percent interest is your maximum amount because you used a business loan calculator it will help you negotiate with a bank.
The calculator allows you to manipulate the amount of the loan. After doing a little research with various banks you might find out most loan officers are only willing to offer you 7.5 percent in interest. The calculator will show you that $250,000 at 7.5 percent is going to be $1,748 per month. This is roughly $2,000 more than the 6.5 percent interest. At this juncture you may decide $250,000 as a loan is too much at the quoted interest rate. By lowering the amount of the loan you can reduce your payments.
When you know the answers to various business loan calculations you can speak more intelligently to the bank or lender when you go in to get approved for a loan. You can show them you did your research on costs to come up with what was affordable. You may also show that you will use some of your personal savings to help you start up the business. The rest of the personal savings can be a reserve in the event that you need it.
Banks tend to be more willing to lend money if they see that you have collateral, even if it is cash. The risk to them getting the business loan paid off is less if you have a means to pay it back other than business profits.