Business Plan Development
A solid management team, combined with the right market idea or concept, as well as sufficient capital to fund operations and fixed asset acquisitions are the requisites for a successful company.
The preparation of a business plan, defining cash needs over the next five years is the next step in the financial planning process. In our role as financial advisor, Foxboro Consulting Group, Inc. (“FCGI”) will assist your Company in preparing a “Business Plan” as part of this financial planning effort. The Business Plan will demonstrate the viability and potential of your Company’s business, plus your knowledge and understanding of what is necessary to attain your objectives. It also allows prospective creditors or investors to evaluate both the potential return on investment, and the individuals who will manage the operations of the Company.
Since your business plan is the first manifestation of your work product and capabilities that the creditor or investor sees, it is important that it be carefully prepared. It can also serve as a valuable planning exercise that should enable your Company to continue successful operations.
Our Approach
We have designed an approach to achieve your Company’s objectives. Lending institutions that are seeking candidates for loans have more business plans and related material to read than they can possibly digest. To make it easier, therefore, we recommend that a summary of what you are trying to accomplish appear as the first one or two pages of your plan.
We will prepare a summary of the salient reasons why someone should loan funds to your Company, and will include a brief discussion of:
- Your Company Management Team ” lending institutions invest in people ” people who have run or are likely to run successful operations. Potential creditors will look closely at the members of your management team. We will identify your talents and expertise in management disciplines, such as marketing and sales, materials management, financial management, and operations. We will identify members of you management team, highlighting their track records, and prepare succinct resumes.
- Your Company Business – We will describe your Company, its products, and:
Your Company’s operating history, present ownership, and future objectives.
Your company’s services, products, and uniqueness.
Your Company’s role within your industry, and the trends in that industry.
- Assess Your Company’s Market Potential – Market potential is where creditors separate inventors from entrepreneurs. Market potential needs to be followed up with market strategy in order to capitalize on the opportunity. This part of your Business Plan will be scrutinized carefully. We will make your market analysis as specific as possible, focusing on believable, and reasonable projections, including:
Size of the potential market and your market niche
The market you anticipate achieving
The competition – who and what
The customers, who, where, how many, and pricing
Identify Key Company Highlights
Specify Your Company’s Marketing Strategy – The ability to market your product successfully is just as important as your product’s development. In presenting your market strategy, therefore, we will include a discussion of:
- The specific marketing techniques you use, that is, how you identify, contact, and sell to customers.
- Your pricing, demonstrating the value added to the customer versus the price paid.
- Your sales force and selling strategies for various accounts, areas and markets.
- Your customers, how many there are and where they are located.
- Your customer service, which markets are covered by direct sales force. We will describe the approach for capitalizing on each channel and how they compare with other practices in your industry.
- Your advertising and promotional plans.
Present Your Product Development – We will present the status of your product development in broad fairly non-technical terms, so someone can conclude whether you have a product with continuity, with nation-wide potential. We will cover the following points in this section:
- The proprietary aspects of the concept.
- The reasons why your product is more advanced than existing competitors.
- Outline Your Company’s Operations – We will identify all facilities, locations and operations. In addition, we will outline work force by job category, extent of subcontracting, sources of supply, and service strategy.
Provide Financial Summary
We will prepare a detailed financial forecast supported with income statement, cash flow, balance sheet, and supporting footnote and assumptions.
Sales forecast will be based on prices that adequately consider the market for your products and its value to the customer.
Pricing will reflect cost considerations, and produce a return sufficient to cover costs and other expenses.
Cost of Sales is usually the Company’s largest expenditure. We will identify the significant materials components, integrate labor and overhead and demonstrate that employment levels are adequate to meet sales needs.
Expense categories including: salaries & wages, fringe benefits, general and administrative expenses, supplies and other expenses, depreciation and interest expense, as well as ongoing capital expenditures will be reflected in the financial forecast.
Balance Sheet performance has an impact on cash flow, and will be a key concern to prospective investors. The balance sheet will be integrated with assumptions in the income statement.
Cash Flow analysis is critical to prospective investors, and to the survival of the business, because businesses cannot operate without adequate cash. The cash flow statement will highlight cash receipts, and disbursements from operations, financing activities, and capital expenditures. This statement will enable you and prospective investors to quickly assess and evaluate your Company’s cash flow sensitivities.
We will summarize the detailed financial forecasts in a written report. Our detailed report will include analyses and forecasts and will be based on the assumptions and rational defined in the report.
Our report will detail the nature of the reservations (if any) we have with respect to the footnotes. Should any such reservations develop, we will discuss them with you before the report is issued.
You are responsible for representations about your plans and expectations and for disclosure of significant information that might affect the ultimate realization of the forecasted results.
There will usually be differences between the forecasted and actual results, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, and those differences may be material. Our report will contain a statement to that effect.
We have no responsibility to update our report for events and circumstances occurring after the date of our report. At the conclusion of the engagement, you agree to supply us with a representation letter that, among other things, will confirm your responsibility for the underlying assumptions and appropriateness for the financial forecasts and their presentation.
Our engagement cannot be relied on to disclose errors, irregularities, or illegal acts, including fraud or defalcation, that may exist. We will inform you, however, of any such matters that come to our attention.
