Great question, your business plan is the story of your business. 

 

It is there to provide proof of concept and without that we can’t get a banker to understand what you are doing and how they are going to get paid back for the loan we need them to provide.  Making the story clear and concise is the design of the business plan and the numbers need to be validated by the text. 

 

The sales are definitely tricky. 

 

Most people struggle with this, but think about why you think this business will be successful. 

 

You have in your head an idea, a goal, a dream about that you will generate X number of sales and revenue and turn those into profit.  Let’s pull that from your head and put it down on paper so we can begin to prove the model. 

 

Most will prove the model by gathering 3rd party data, which can be done from different market reports as well as other similar businesses in similar areas.  If you find businesses that are not competition for you, they may be willing to provide some information to assist you so you don’t run into the same pitfalls they did.

 

**Thanks to SBDC Team Member Cort Maddox for this insightful article.