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| Business Plan / Executive Summary |
Question:
I am about to start my business plan.
I would first like to know if there
are any resources online that may
have tips or examples of good business
plans.
Or any software that you have used
that was useful in the formatting
of it.
And the one of the reasons I am writing
this is in hopes of getting financing.
I was wondering if I should present
a potential lender with a business
plan or an executive summary. And
what the major differences were in
each
Answer:
I would suggest you visit your neighborhood
SBA/SCORE
(Senior Corp. of Retired Execs). They
will walk you through it - for free.
They'll also have $35 seminars focusing
on the subject.
Another organization that provides
resources for business
plans
is the Small Business
Development Center (SBDC). In
addition to counseling clients on
how to write a business
plan, SBDCs will review your plan
and help in the loan application process.
I'm a counselor for the TCC SBDC in
Fort Worth, TX. We are fortunate
to be located in the Business
Assistance Center with 12 other organizations,
including the SBA
and SCORE. Our services are
not identical and are very complementary.
SCORE takes "walk-ins"
and covers the basics of starting
a business.
They do provide a workshop for
a small fee (about $35 as pointed
out in another post). Most SBDCs
work on an one-to-one appointment
basis, and we focus on business
planning and the loan application
process. As a non-profit organization,
we do not charge for our counseling
services at the TCC SBDC. We
also offer workshops that address
issues related to the IRS, financing,
legal, intellectual property, and
government contracting. Check with
your local SBDC to see what services
they offer. The SBA
is the source of small business
loans and is a "parent"
to the SBDC. We don't make
loans at the SBDC, we help you with
your business
plan which is required to obtain an
SBA
loan. The SBA
does not make the loans (lenders such
as banks provide the loans), but does
guarantee 75% of the loan the lender
makes. The lender and the SBA
require between a 30% and 40% equity
investment. One of the greatest challenges
clients face is understanding the
required format and necessary elements
of a business
plan. I see a lot of great ideas
come in the door, but then fizzle
when the client realizes that it takes
work to write a really good business
plan that helps secure financing or
grow a successful business.
It can certainly be an overwhelming
experience for anyone not familiar
with the process. In order to
minimize the deluge of websites found
by search engines, I put together
a directory of relevant resources
for starting/growing a business
and/or writing a business
plan (). In addition to finding business
plan outlines, templates, and software,
several links provide a thorough description
of the elements in a business
plan. That is just one of the
categories. All the others help
you find the information that goes
into the plan. It's a very comprehensive
site that separates the "wheat
from the chaff" and provides
really useful resources. If you need
direction on writing a business
plan, visit your local SBDC and this
website.
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