buisness plan

[abidingdreams]

Hello everyone,
I have run into a bit of a problem that I am having trouble overcoming. I am currently receiving assistance with some of the start up costs for my business but the only thing they require is a business plan. It is to show that I am serious about running this to success as well as getting me to think of the present and future issues that might arise. I have done a portion of it but am having trouble with forecasting yearly income, expected monthly cost, and many other things. Was wondering if y'all could give me some pointers or better yet if you have some examples to show me that would really help. Thank you for your time.

 

[Lil Red]

You should know this if you are applying for a loan...

 

[abidingdreams]

You should know this if you are applying for a loan...

Im not applying for a loan (although I would like to get a loan for some of the bigger pieces of equipment in the near future). The help is coming from a government agency. The reason I went in there in the beginning was to help with ISA courses but the gentleman who is helping me said that it was in his budget to also help with gear. But I still need to write him up a business plan so that he can show that I am meeting projections and am being successful with his help. So if there is anyone who can help me with that I would be much obliged.

 

[ATH]

Ask the local chamber of commerce if they offer any help in developing business plans. Income projection is tough when you are starting from scratch.

*How many potential clients are in your service area
*What is the average household income
*What is the average annual spending on landscape
*What services do you intend to offer
*How do you plan to effectively market
*How many competitors are in the area - how tightly are their clients connected to them (if you have 10,000 people in town and there are 2 companies with 2 crews each already doing great work, there is probably not room for a new guy...if you are in a town of 100,000 and there are 6 companies all doing hack jobs, there is probably a lot of market that a quality company can pick up in a hurry)
*and on, and on, and on

There is no magic number. The quicker you come up with that projection, the less reliable it will be. The more questions you ask and research, the better that number will be.

 

[abidingdreams]

Ask the local chamber of commerce if they offer any help in developing business plans. Income projection is tough when you are starting from scratch.

*How many potential clients are in your service area
*What is the average household income
*What is the average annual spending on landscape
*What services do you intend to offer
*How do you plan to effectively market
*How many competitors are in the area - how tightly are their clients connected to them (if you have 10,000 people in town and there are 2 companies with 2 crews each already doing great work, there is probably not room for a new guy...if you are in a town of 100,000 and there are 6 companies all doing hack jobs, there is probably a lot of market that a quality company can pick up in a hurry)
*and on, and on, and on

There is no magic number. The quicker you come up with that projection, the less reliable it will be. The more questions you ask and research, the better that number will be.

Thank you very much for the advice and I am definitely going to go and seek help from the Chamber

 

[Lil Red]

To be honest you are going to be chasing a bunch of goose eggs, now one is going to have financial numbers for your business. I know this from experience, I have to make my own from a combination of weekly/monthly monetary goals as well as how many customers I wanted to reach in a month. Those two are and were my defining financial goals as I make my own track record. Which I am sure all my goals are very dependent on myself, where, and how I implemented my plan accordingly.

What you can do is find research for first year tree care companies and get a idea of their trails and tribulations but mostly be prepared to find a lot of unknown's yourself. Just the way it is, this is not an ice cream business.

 

[pro94lt]

My only advise is whatever you've figured on equipment repairs double them