A Financial Business Plan To Knock Their Socks Off!

A financial business plan is one that you give to someone else, hoping that it will be the stepping stone to your business funding.

The "Someone Else" In Your Financial Business Plan

Read that sentence again. You give it to "someone else". Every sentence written is read by someone else. That is important to keep in mind.

And it is not just any old person. No, this is someone you have specifically targeted to receive this particular business plan. Whoa ... Is there more than one business plan for your business?

Very possibly, yes. Should you be seeking different types of financing, you may need to create two or more versions. The most common ones are those you present to your banker or investor, and that is probably where you want to start.

But what about negotiating a whopper of a lease? or impressing your major supplier? There are many things you will tell a banker or lender in your financial business plan that you don't necessarily want a lessor or supplier to know. The same holds true for others you may go to for advice or financial consideration.

We do caution you to be wary. Having "reviewers" sign confidentiality agreements is pretty counter productive. The banker won't do it. And if others are intent on stealing your ideas, they will do so, and enforcing the confidentiality agreement won't help -- they are notoriously difficult (and expensive) to enforce.

So first identify who will see this financial business plan, and what level of information they should see.

The "Stepping Stone" In Your Financial Business Plan

Absurdly few business plans raise money, in fact virtually none. While it is axiomatic that only 5% or so of all business plans actually get funded, even that statement is off the mark. "Business plans" don't get funded; "businesses" do. The very best that you can hope for your business plan is that it will provide the foundation, the introduction, that will lead to your business being funded.

Holy maloney, all that work and no money? Well, that's not quite true. What you are far more likely to get with a strong financial business plan is exactly what the other 95% wish they had: a potential, a very real potential, for funding success.

So Write The Business Plan That Will Knock Their Socks Off!

Several hundred pages of this website, and every single business plan ebook that you see, are all geared to help you do just that. Read through it. See what you can use, and skip the rest. Nobody can use it all.

One hint: Read through pages that don't seem to apply to you. There are some gems hidden away. We don't deliberately hide info, it just slips in here and there.

Here are some good starting points: