Business Plans

Amaxima ensure they listen to their clients and talk through the key aims for the plan before hitting the keyboard and producing endless graphs that very few people really reads ... There is no standard format but most plans include some or all of the following:

• An executive summary highlighting the main points - to catch people's attention.
  
• Details of key personnel with an organisational chart showing individual responsibilities.
  
• Details of competitors and how your product or service fits into the market - eg who your potential customers are and why you think they will buy your product or service.
  
• Your marketing plan - how you are going to get your product or service in front of potential customers, together with any assumptions made when setting your targets.
  
• Financial information & Key Ratios. These can be used to compare your business' performance against industry benchmarks. It's also a good idea to give details of any major expenditure you've made on long-term assets and explain the reasons behind any changes in working capital items, such as stock, debtors and creditors. Remember to include balance sheet and profit and loss account details. Many lenders ask for three years' financial information. If this is not available, supply details about trading to date.
  
• How you will manage credit, expenditure, stock planning and control, and debtors and creditors.

When seeking funding make sure to include:

• A cash-flow forecast indicating the amount of funding you need and why. For a start up include estimates of how much finance you will need for two to three years or until you start to make a profit.
  
• Indicate contingency funds that might be needed for the duration of the project.
  
• Financial forecasts for a three to five year period. Try to present this information in the same way as historical financial information, so that straightforward comparisons can be made.
  
• How a loan will be repaid, how investors can get their money back, and when.