A business plan has a lot of important elements to help you secure funding and launch a new business. That’s why we’ve been spending some time talking about what to include in different sections or types of business plans. Arguably, one of the most important parts of a business plan is the financial section, especially when using the plan to secure investments. Potential investors want to see your current and projected financial information. So, here’s what you should consider when working on that section:

Sales Forecast: Using a spreadsheet, project your sales over the next several years. A business plan expert can help you decide how far out you need to project for your specific industry. Either make an educated guess or use past results to help determine your projections. Starting with the forecast can help you figure out additional finance needs.

Expense Budget: How much is it going to cost to run the business and make the sales you’ve forecasted? Make a budget of both fixed and variable costs, estimating interest and taxes for various items.

Cash Flow Statement: Create a cash flow statement showing how money will move in and out of our business. A typical cash flow statement is broken down into 12 months.

Income Projections: Using the sales forecast and cash flow statement, work on detailing the income forecast for your business. If you are unsure, work with a business consultant who can help talk you through this.

Projected Balance Sheet: Some of the assets and liabilities won’t be included in the other sections, so be sure to include them here. Assets include month by month cash, accounts receivable, inventory, buildings and equipment. Liabilities are your debts, so any bills you haven’t paid yet (accounts payable) and loans.

Breakeven Analysis: When will your business break even? Financiers want to know this, so include an analysis in your business plan to give them an idea of your goals and projections.

Get expert help creating your business plan, because business plan consultants know how to create a plan that works. They have helped thousands of people just like you write business plans by asking the right questions, getting to know you and your ideas and helping you develop new ideas to incorporate into your plan. Get in touch with Bargain Business Plan today for a free consultation to learn how we can help you with your business plan needs.

Be sure to check out future What to Include blog posts!

If you are applying as an EB-5 immigrant investor, there are many steps you have to follow to get visa approval. One of these important pieces is the business plan. It’s not your average business plan — it needs to be very comprehensive, covering more information than a traditional plan. Here are some tips on what goes into your EB-5 business plan from our What to Include blog series.

Creating an EB-5 Business Plan

An EB-5 business plan is submitted with EB-5 petitions and need to explain to the USCIS officer reasons why your business will be not just viable, but successful in the U.S. The more detailed the plan, the better the immigration officer can understand why this business should be approved for U.S. operations with you as its investor. EB-5 visa business plans need to professionally present each of the following elements in detail and include any supporting data or documentation available.

Business description: Give the USCIS an overview of the industry, purpose, mission and plans of the proposed business in your description.

When creating a new business (as most EB-5 investors do), investors need to explain the business structure. The structure will have legal, tax and management implications. The three most common for EB-5 investments are:

limited partnerships
corporations
limited liability companies

Market analysis: EB-5 business plans must include target market analysis and a marketing plan to explain to USCIS the road map for finding and targeting customers.

Personnel plan: Include a personnel plan to explain the experience of management and key personnel and the functions they’ll fulfill.

Competitor analysis: A competitor analysis, including what makes this new business unique and how it will fill any gaps in the market, should be included with all EB-5 plans.

Financial projections: As with other types of business plans, the financial projections, including budgets, sales and costs, need to be explained for a five-year period, showing the source and uses of funds.

Required details: One unique element of these plans is showing that research for all required licenses and permits for operating the business has been done, and you, as the investor, understands what will need to be done to launch the business.

Job creation: EB-5 business plans need to include the job descriptions of each position and the timetable for hiring the 10 new, full-time positions EB-5 visa investors need to create. Show a detailed staffing plan to fulfill the requirement.

Get help from experienced business plan experts who have helped thousands of immigrant investors create business plans that convey their ideas in a professional, clear way to USCIS officials while complying with Matter of Ho. Contact Bargain Business Plan for a free consultation.

Be sure to check out future What to Include blog posts!

There are many different elements to a business plan: the executive summary, business overview, sales and marketing plans, financial projections and market research and analysis. As you work to create your business and craft a strong, effective business plan that can land you business partners, funding and employees, you may be wondering what you should be researching and analyzing in the market research & analysis section. Here are some tips on what goes in that section, the first in our new What to Include blog series.

Writing a Market Research & Analysis Section

Target audience demographics and segmentation: Depending on your product or service and your business structure, your target audience will be different. No matter how you plan to operate, this section should include:

the size of the customer base you plan to have
who the potential customer may be
the value of the possible customer segment

This will help your investors and lenders understand your industry like you do.

Target market: The target market is the type of customers. Be as specific as possible, even if you are going into a more general type of business that everyone can partake in (like a coffee shop).

Market need: What need will you fill? What problem are your future customers facing that you are solving? Detail the demand for your product or service and how your business will fill the gap. If you are going to have a lot of competition, describing what drives the market is important.

Competition: Who are your competitors? What are their strengths or weaknesses? This is a good place to explain what they aren’t doing well, what their weaknesses are and what they could be doing better (that you instead will do).

Barriers to entry and regulations: Focus on answering some questions your investors will have before they can even sk them.

What barriers are there to entering the market – for you and for future competitors?
What will make you successfully be able to navigate those barriers?
What regulations does your industry face?

These barriers may be financial investments, technological changes or regulations. Explain what the regulations are and how you will stay compliant.

Get help from experienced business plan experts with conducting your market research so that your business plan is sure to impress your lenders and investors. Contact Bargain Business Plan for a free consultation to learn how we can help you with market research, business plans and pitch decks so you are prepared to launch your business!

Be sure to check out future What to Include blog posts!

Chances are your smartphone is nearly always in your pocket or hand. Most people — especially business owners — have their devices close at hand these days, so they can stay in touch and keep on top of everything going on in their life. If this sounds like you, here are tools and apps you can download to better manage your business, your time and your life.

FreshBooks: Oversee cash flow, expenses, invoices, and more on a computer or phone.

Bank apps: Your bank most likely has an app you can download to view your account and loans through the bank.

Square: Accept payments of a customer’s credit card right on your phone and simply pay a flat 2.75% fee each transaction.

TSheets: Manage employees by tracking schedules, automating timesheets and integrating with accounting software platforms.

Wunderlist: Easily create and maintain multiple lists, share them with others, assign mini-tasks, give deadlines and set reminders.

Pocket: Save articles you find interesting so you can read them later (maybe on a Sunday morning or an evening where you have some downtime).

Toggl: Track clients and projects while you manage billable hours in this time tracking app.

Slack: Communicate with your team anywhere, any time with this instant messaging platform.

Join.me: Host video conferences on their free plan that lets you invite up to 10 video participants, share screens.

Boxmeup: Track packages, containers and other bulk storage items.

Get help getting started with your business from our experienced business plan experts. Get a free consultation today to learn how we can help.

You’ve seen a need for a product or service, or a gap in what’s currently being offered in the market. You know you have a great idea for providing the product or service in a way that consumers will respond to in a positive way. So, you’ve decided to start a business. Congratulations! But what exactly goes into the business planning process?

First, you need to review the market. What’s going well? What isn’t going well that you think you could improve? Jot down your ideas on the market, current companies (who will soon be your competitors) and future trends you see happening.

Second, you need to define your idea. What will you provide? How is it different? What will set you apart from the competition? These are all really important questions to answer before launching a business, writing a formal business plan and securing funding.

Next, you’ll need to figure out how to go to market. What will your sales strategies be? How will you market your products/services? What will you do to get customers in your door (literally or figuratively) so that you can make money? Keep in mind, marketing and sales will be included in the business plan so having a thorough idea will help.

Then, you should take some time to prepare a budget and financial forecast. Where will money come from? Where will you spend it? When do you expect to make any loans back so you can pay them off?

Finally, you need to write it all down. A business plan is a road map to a successful business. Having an expertly crafted plan can help you know what milestones you are hoping to hit at each stage, as well as be prepared to answer questions as you go into meetings with investors, vendors, partners and future employees. As a living document, you can make changes to it as you network and find out new or better ideas to present your business. But an initial plan written by an experienced business plan consultant can help you feel prepared as you step into the new world of business ownership.

Contact Bargain Business Plan for a free consultation on your business plan needs. With thousands of plans created for startups, nonprofits, visa applicants and more, our experts understand how to create a plan that works. They’ll take the time to get to know you and your business idea, then draft a business plan to help you achieve your goals.

As an entrepreneur, you know you have creative, innovative ideas. But putting those ideas into action can be a challenge. You have ideas, and work experience, and goals, and dreams. Actually starting a business, that’s a whole different ballpark from pretty much anything you’ve done before. However, it can be done with some work – and some help from your connections. Here are five proven tips to help startup businesses, just like yours.

Understand the market.

Your idea is probably not a completely new idea. Chances are good that there is already a market out there, with competitors and industry peers. That’s why it’s so important for you to understand your market. Where does your company fit in? What does it bring to the table that is different from the rest? Once you know what’s available already, you can begin to figure out where you belong. Understanding your market can lead to your business success because you know exactly who you are.

Know your customers.

Next, you need to know your customers and your target audience. Because you aren’t the only person providing those products or services, people have choices. So you need to know exactly who you’re targeting, and why you are the best option out of all the competition. Know what their problems are and how you can solve them. Show how you can make peoples’ lives easier, and bring additional value to their lives than just the product or service they buy from you. Your customers are the only way to find business success, because they are the reason you’re in business in the first place.

Have passion for what you do.

As you talk to potential partners, employees, lenders and investors, and even customers, you need to know only show that you know what you do, what you bring to the market and why you should be in that industry, but also show that you are passionate about what you are doing. People want to work with people who have that passion and aren’t afraid to show it. Starting a business is a big venture, from time to money to energy, but having passion can help get you through long days of stress and frustration.

Network.

It’s something most people hear over and over again in their professional life: network, network, network. But when you are launching your own business, it’s true. You need to network, and use your network, to be successful. Your network can lead to valuable connections that can bring in partnerships, new opportunities, funding and more to your startup business in its early days through several years down the road. As a business owner, your network should be wide – your fellow business owners, people in marketing and finance, accountants, educators and more can all provide important insight into your business growth.

Be brave.

While having knowledge and expertise is important for success, it’s equally as important to be brave. Starting a business can be a huge risk, and bravery can help you find the courage to take the leap, quit your day job and start something new. In addition, bravery may help you as you approach investors and cold call potential customers or clients. It’s one of the biggest keys to any startup success.

Get help with planning for your business from Bargain Business Plan, expert consultants who are ready to help you with crafting a useful, efficient business plan to accomplish your goals.

As you work to get your business launched, you know there are a lot of steps before you can officially open for the first time. You need to get funding, find employees and put together your pricing structure. But how can you do all of this and make sure everything gets done? A business plan can be your road map, from business ideation all the way through the first few years of operation.

This plan is a tool for launching, managing and growing your company. It should lay out your company mission and vision, management structure, products and services, marketing plans and sales strategies. You can use it at each step: when you get funding, when you find business partners and when you hire managers and staff members. Here are a few of the reasons why your business plan is an important aspect to get done early.

Secure funding.

You can’t have a business without money, but how do you get that money? It can seem overwhelming to have to find investors and lenders to help you secure enough capital to get the company off the ground. That’s where your business plan comes in. It can be used to drive your conversations with potential financers, providing them with the information of how you hope to make your business a success and get them their money back. It should include enough data to answer their questions and make them feel secure in their investment.

Manage your company.

Without a plan, you can’t expect to be able to effectively manage your new company. Your business plan will give both you and those who work for you an outline of what you hope to accomplish. It should show how you will grow, how you can make sales and what you will do to market the company and attract new customers. Everyone can know the goals and milestones you all are working toward by following the outline in your plan.

Have a direction.

A business plan gives you and everyone involved a road map from where you are now to where you hope to be in the future. It tells everyone what your mission is, what your goals are and what your company vision should be. As you work on your business plan, you may find more clarity for each of these things and discover areas you should focus on. It can help to establish the path you plan to take over a few years – with a timeline of milestones you are going to hit.

Work with an expert to create your business plan. They have insight, experience and knowledge that can help improve your plan, providing you with things to think about you may not have in mind before your first conversation with a consultant. The professional business plan writers at Bargain Business Plan are ready to help you achieve success and accomplish your goals. Contact us today to learn how we have helped thousands of business owners, just like you, with business plans for startups, nonprofits, visa applications, and more.

A business plan is perhaps the most important tool when it comes to startups and expansions. It is not only of major strategic importance for entrepreneurs but is also the key factor in the decision making process of venture capitalists and banks when deciding upon loans. A business plan is what you will derive everything from, including elevator pitches, legal frameworks, and contracts. It needs to be the right foundation that can support you throughout your startup journey, and only a quality business plan can overcome the barriers along the way for your business idea to be successfully realized. One can easily say that a business plan can make or break your business, so you want to make sure it is not just good, but great. This is why it is a good idea to hire a business plan writer as an external expert who can add a fresh and objective angle in forming your idea into an attractive proposal.

Although there are no guarantees in life nor in business, here are the 5 qualities of a business plan writer that you cannot afford to miss upon and that you need to spot in his or her previous work or portfolio.

Commitment

You are the one who knows the most about your project. So, naturally, an outsider can never get into that many details. However, you need to make sure that you hire someone who will be patient and devoted to reaching this depth with you so he or she can transfer the core value of your idea at its best and do it right.

Knows the audience

You can have an amazing idea that has no chance at unfolding simply because you presented it to the wrong people. For example, you may want to show how IoT can enhance everyday lives with smart technology, yet your plan speaks in technological terms that ordinary people whose lives should benefit from it cannot understand. Similarly, when it comes to highly specialized fields, the plan needs to address knowledgeable critics in a straightforward manner. Effective communication is key in addressing the target market.

Balance of knowledge and storytelling

We all know how business plans are formatted, and anyone who doesn’t can easily ask Google. However, writing is an art that can be perfected. Not all of us are Hemingway, and people who use words as a tool have a valuable gift. After all, words have had immense power throughout history. We all know that Tesla invented the electrical age, but if you went back in time to read his papers, would you be able to see the potential?

Ahead of the competition

When the modern world is abundant with innovation, it can be a challenge to invent something that doesn’t exist. Most likely, you are bringing a product or service to fulfill a need better than what already exists in the market. Your business plan needs to reflect this as similar projects will have similar business plans. The job of a business plan writer is to make your business plan stand out from the competition.

Related Experience

Usually, you would want a business plan writer with the experience in your industry to ensure that all the facts and numbers will be realistic. There can be exceptions depending on the project itself as different backgrounds can often bring new perspectives, but it ultimately comes down to experience. Experience, more than anything else, is what can bring it all together.

A skilled business plan writer can do a lot for you, but the value lies in the idea itself. If your project brings value to the world, a good business plan writer will make this so obvious that your target audience will not miss this fact. If that’s not the case, the writer can only use the persuasive tool of the written word, but ultimately it is your project that speaks for itself. And when in written form, its power will be magnified by a skilled, professional, and experienced business plan writer.

It’s a life-altering experience watching your dreams of a small business come to life. Even greater when that business is successful. For many, business scaling is a part of the plan from the very inception of the business concept. For others, business scaling happens suddenly. Either way, are you ready to do what’s required to keep up with a growing business?

Identify Your Business’s Scalability

In business, it’s great to dream. But business scaling is based on likelihood. The likelihood of your business being able to grow is called its scalability. Scalability is measured by your businesses system, model, or function and it’s ability to cope with an expanding workload. Elements of a scalable business include:

Financial standing- scalable business often have high cash flow, less debt, and investors.
Technology- technology represents your business’s efficiency.

Automate as Much as Possible

You know you’ve scaled your business “big enough” when you are making money as you sleep. This level of success doesn’t happen overnight but it does start with automating as much as possible. This will require a lot of time and resources but provides the ultimate ROI.

The most effective ways to automate your business in order to scale includes outsourcing, creating an intensive training program, including technology where possible, making it simple and repeatable, and hiring strictly ninjas. Business scaling requires working on your business, not in it.

Plan BIG

Last, but certainly not least, is planning big. Business scaling means taking your business planning to the next level. For your best chance and scale preparation, your business plan should include elements that best prepare each part of your business to grow. The new opportunity will bring new challenges. Is your business plan ready for the change? You may have to toss out that small business plan and start new. Industry experts in your area are waiting to help you take your business to new heights.

Developing the appropriate business leadership skills doesn’t happen overnight, especially the kind that help you scale a startup. These leadership traits come when regular business people become proactive about accessing their long-term potential. Gaining some of these traits even require letting old habits die.

Delegate

You can’t go it alone. Even though you’ve been told your entire career. “if you want something done right, do it yourself!”. This will just leave you tired, bitter, and with a failed business.

The difference between a budding entrepreneur and a successful business person it the ability to assign tasks that others can do just as well–maybe even better than you, the boss. If you ever walk into a restaurant, you shouldn’t see the owner chopping salad while the line gets backed up. In order to see your business scale, you have to have an eye on the whole picture. You won’t be able to anticipate and plan for success if you’re caught up in menial tasks.

Nurture vs. Nature

Grow with your business and lead by example. Nurturing your team (and self) is how you will remain focused and avoid becoming overwhelmed. Nurturing your team includes doing what it takes to help them refine their skills, learn more about your market, and improving everyone’s overall business acumen.

Feedback Loops

Creating feedback loops are crucial if you’re looking to scale. A feedback loop happens when a team, including the CEO, create a scheduled system of one on one meetings to provide and receive feedback. Feedback loops can become embedded into your business if you make them a priority. Be consistent and provide valuable keynotes to staff. The result is progress and being able to see how all the moving parts are functioning.

Business leadership skills are what will take you to a whole new level of entrepreneurship and the ability to help businesses scale.

Tips

What to Include: Financial Section

What to Include: EB-5 Business Plans

Creating an EB-5 Business Plan

What to Include: Market Research & Analysis

Writing a Market Research & Analysis Section

Business Management Tools for Small Business Owners

What Goes into the Business Planning Process?

Become a Business Owner with These 5 Proven Startup Tips

Understand the market.

Know your customers.

Have passion for what you do.

Network.

Be brave.

Why is a Business Plan Important?

Secure funding.

Manage your company.

Have a direction.

5 Things to Look for When Hiring a Business Plan Writer

5 Tips on Scaling a Small Business

Identify Your Business’s Scalability

Automate as Much as Possible

Plan BIG

Leadership Skills that Help Your Business Scale

Delegate

Nurture vs. Nature

Feedback Loops