Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I was looking over some sample business plans to get some ideas of what works.

Now, a lot of us are putting together plans in order to present them to investors for money. This means that I (as well as many of us) currently don`t have investment money.

Now, in the section where you develop a prospective list of startup costs, it seems that a lot of business plans state where the source of their investment money is. How does this work? I don`t have a source, so do I put down an amount indicating my intended source of investment money?


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Collin Cummings
President, Drop Box, LLC
dropboxmail@gmail.com

Theoretically speaking, yes you do put down the amount you expect to get from outside sources, and simply identify the source as investor or lender. I had a very good experience with SCORE. They are all volunteers, with a wide variety of business backgrounds, and their counseling is absolutely FREE. They helped me develop my business plan. It`s kind of a catch-22, but I do know any investor/lender will be expecting to see a substantial amount of your own money committed to covering at least 25-30% of your start-up costs. On my business plan (you can download the free template from www.score.org ) there was a place to list my own contributions and a separate place for loans. If there`s not a SCORE chapter where you live, you can also get counseling online, also free. Hope this helps. Good luck!

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"The Media Fairy"
Carole Holden
Gelmtree Advertising

"Your advertising doesn`t have to be expensive or complicated to be effective. Ask for your free slice of Advertising Pie."

In addition to your own funds, to bulk up your business plan you need to count all the assets you bring to your business.

Personal computer
Fax
Space in your home allocated to your business
Your time/sweat equity
Any inventory you produce as samples
Your intellectual property

My analyst told me....NOTHING is Free. Count everything.

 

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Laurie Champagne
CMO
Groove Rock Gear, Inc.
grooverockgear.com
grooverockmusic.com
grooverockradio.com



email: laurie[at]grooverockgear.com