Business Planning Tools
Your future depends on good research, planning and documentation.
Business plans work!
To obtain a loan, specific financing criteria must be met, and in many cases a carefully constructed Business Plan is required.
While part of the criteria to access financing, it will also form an essential part of your successful future business.
You can utilize interactive planning tools found in the websites to the right. They can enable a logical, well-prepared business plan.
Your business plan will consist of the following categories (there may be some variations depending on your business location or product):
- Executive Summary
- Company Information
- Product / Service Information
- Market / Environment Research (PEST and/or SWOT Analysis)
- Marketing Plan
- Operations Plan
- Financial Information
- Risk Analysis
- Implementation Plan / Timeline
Your Financial Information is best prepared in a spreadsheet format that can adapt to your new information, as it becomes available. You can also print off the pages which we have included in the Planning Tools worksheet section. The business planning links on other websites provide interactive pages that can be very helpful to you as you gather and collate your financial plan.
Creating your financial plan may require the expert advice of accountants, lawyers, or your banker.
The Financial Planning Section of your business plan requires that you create the following as a minimum for a new business (start-up):
- Cash Flow Statement (for a minimum of 12 months)
- Income Statement (pro forma)
- The Pro Forma Balance Sheet is optional, but recommended if your business requires significant investment in capital equipment
In order to prepare your forecasts, work through the following pre-planning worksheets:
If you have an existing business and seek financing for expansion or other purposes, you will need to provide the following, as well as a modified business plan that addresses the reasons to support the expansion strategy:
- Prepared Financial Statements (generally completed by an accountant)
- Aged List of Receivables
- Aged List of Payables
- List of inventory
