How can you get started and get help? What are the time-saving shortcuts?
ECL Direct 's chartered accountants offer advice and methods to help you make money.
The market analysis required by the business plan enables us to check everything that could compromise the business or, on the contrary, accelerate it. Depending on the business and the project, it will be more or less complex. Sometimes, its conclusions will lead you to complete or modify your offer, to postpone or perhaps abandon your project. In a way, it's the "green light" that authorizes you to continue.
And it's by confronting this analytical approach that you'll be able to formulate a powerful argument in your business plan.
It must describe in detail the characteristics of your project, its strengths and weaknesses, the risks envisaged, the actions already taken, etc.
The exercise is fairly codified, and you'll find sample plans all over the web. The trick is to make it your own, and turn it into a convincing document that's easy to read.
Your presentation has two complementary dimensions:
- The qualitative part, which focuses on all the dimensions that contribute to demonstrating your company's chances of success:
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Executive summary : business, market, key figures and needs...
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Description of your company: history, structure, location and profile of manager(s) (and their complementarities)
- Presenting your products or services
- Market research
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Your approach and strategic positioning: competitive advantages, pricing policy and sales development stages
- How the company works
- This is followed by a more pragmatic dimension, involving the translation into figures of your development hypotheses and financing requirements. In most cases, this complex part of the process requires the services of a professional accountant.
It includes :
- projected income statement,
- the projected balance sheet,
- the financing plan,
- cash flow budget,
- and key financial indicators (cash flow, gearing, profitability, etc.).
The simplest solution, of course, is to entrust the production of your business plan to a consulting firm. Some cutting-edge industrial creation projects will find it difficult to do without one, but this solution represents a not inconsiderable cost, which varies greatly according to the complexity of the project.
But with a bit of time on your hands, it's perfectly possible to carry out your own market research, and a number of best practices have proved their worth: creating online questionnaires(Surveymonkey, Google Forms...), relaying information via social networks... The Eurostat and INSEE websites are full of sectoral analyses.
You can add to these analyses as and when you need to, by canvassing your contacts to find "target customers". If you're attacking a BtoB market, your network can certainly put you in touch with players in your sector to conduct interviews. In short, given enough time, anything is possible.
But if you're still a salaried employee, you don't have much time.
Think of business schools and other junior companies. Many courses are looking for "practical cases" for their students. They can take charge of the entire study, right up to the drafting of a summary, for a very modest fee.
For your projected income statement, on the other hand, you need a detailed knowledge of the sector. So forget the accounting school option...
When it comes to presentation, the financial forecasts in your business plan are fairly straightforward. Clear, airy tables are all you need. On the other hand, the accuracy of the data is crucial. The slightest approximation could penalize your application for financing.
If you need to spend a little money on your business plan, have a business forecast drawn up.
Most accounting firms offer this service, independently of the complete business plan. This way, you can be sure of offering a relevant, reliable analysis at a reasonable cost. Cost of a business forecast: between €300 and €600 excluding VAT, depending on the firm.
This collaboration is all the more interesting as you'll be able to talk to a professional who knows your sector.
As you know, banks are always reluctant to finance projects that are too ambitious, so you need to be able to demonstrate your ability to generate the cash flow required to repay your loans.
Of course, a chartered accountant can't create a contribution you don't have, but he or she can help you present your financing plan in the best possible light, and calibrate your request for financing so that it's realistic, given the specificities of the sector.
A useful guarantee to ensure that your financing application doesn't sit on a desk for too long...
Written by our ECL Direct expert
January 20, 2020
