Business Loans and Business
Planning
When looking for business loan,
most financial institutions will require that you have a properly prepared
business plan that showcases your business, your usage of business loan funds,
the industry in which you are operating within, how you intend or how you will
continue to market your business, and the expected financial results of the
business over the next three to five years. It is always preferable to have a
five year financial projection in your business plan when you are applying for a
business loan. As we have discussed through our other articles, banks and
finance companies have increased their lending standards significantly, and by
providing a full five year financial statement – you will show them a level of
seriousness and professionalism that is not often provided by other business
people.
As an example format, your
business plan for a business loan should be formatted in this manner (this is
not a steadfast rule):
- Executive
Summary
- Usage of Debt
Funds
-
Products/Services Offered
- Corporate
Organization and Management Biographies
- Economic,
Industry, Customer, and Competitive Analysis
- Marketing
Plan
- Personnel
Budgets and Head Count
- Financial
Plan
In regards to your financial
plan, you should have a standard profit and loss statement, common size income
statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business
ratios page. The sample business plan available on LookingForBusinessLoan.com
provides you with all of the tools that you need to draft an appropriate
business plan.
As we have stated before, it is
very important that your business plan or prepared financial statements are
reviewed by a certified public account prior to submitting a business loan
application. This individual can ensure that there are no factual or material
errors on any of the documents that you have produced or have had a third party
produce on your behalf.