Business Plan for Business Loans

For your business plan, do a google search for freelance grant writers. Almost any grant writer that specializes in financial grant writing can write you a helluva business plan.

As for your lender... That isn't going to matter as much as who is applying for the loan. How much collateral, credit score, driving experience, future outlook, market research, and any inside track on getting contracts is going to come into play on getting financed and what the terms will be. The lender is also going to be looking at the financials to see if your friend knows what the hell he is doing. You may not realize this, but people in finance can look at a bunch of numbers and see a story. I spent 15 years trading stocks and studying everything associated with the world of banking, finance, government, business, etc.. and I can look at a P&L or balance sheet and with a little research tell you what the CEO's business philosophy is, what kind of corporate structure they have, and how talented management is. Just because I have been doing this for 15 years and have seen it all.

So, your friend is not going to be fooling anyone. If they are business savvy and know their market, it will show. If they are some blue collar yahoo with a pipe dream of owning their own enterprise with someone else's cash, that will also show. In the interview, the lender will feel out the borrower to test them and it may be as simple as a little small talk about the most simple business knowledge.

Last but not least.. Before your friend goes shopping for a loan, they should try to find investors or capital venturists first. It is much better to sell 30% of the company and share the risk than put your home and personal finances on the line should anything go under. The owner can still pay themselves as an employee to get cash out of the company without paying out dividends to minority partners. However, your friend will have to keep it honest or else they will wind up in prison for defrauding investors if they get too greedy.

Next... This is not a good time to be starting a business. Reagan invested in satellite communications and computers and it paid off big in the 1990's... Clinton invested in housing, and it paid off big... ####### Obama invested in solar panels and electric cars and it is not having a huge impact on the economy. The reason why Obama's investments aren't paying off is because GW Bush invested in oil drilling technologies like Fracking and horizontal drilling. So, the price of oil is cheap for no one to give a rats ### about saving money buying overpriced electric cars. Therefore, this business cycle is going to be shorter than average and as soon as the Federal Reserve starts jacking up interest rates later this year, the economy will start to wane.

The best way to start up a business is to secure funding just before a recession and put it away. Then when the recession hits and all the numbnuts go bankrupt, you pick up trucks and equipment for 20% of what they cost brand new at a fire sale or as a repo.

So, I am sure you aren't going to listen to my advice... and to answer your question, the small business administration is the best place to go. They will subsidize a portion of your loan for banks to feel better about lending money to you. You will have to take classes on how to run a small business and a mentor will work with you to qualify. But, like I said before. People in finance will see right through you and since you are in a trucking forum asking about how to finance a business start up, you obviously need the classes.. for your "friend"....

 

no offense slick... but with a semi truck only going for $12,000 on craigslist and plenty of brokers willing to help you with liability insurance and plates if you sign on as an owner operator... If you can't scratch together a lousy $20,000- $50,000 of your own money to get started as an owner/operator.. I sincerely doubt you have the money management skills to run a successful enterprise.

I see this everyday as I am now getting divorced and running into old friends. Common ordinary people and money are like oil and water, they quickly separate. It is a byproduct of a saturated market economy with people constantly being bombarded with advertisements and schemes to be sold crap. That is why you see the stupidest people on the planet wearing $300 shoes and designer clothing while millionaire farmers look like poor working classes. Hell when I met Sam Walton, he was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt that was for sale in the Sam's Club he was opening that day. But, some chump in the ghetto has to have the Air Jordan shoes and the Mr T gold chain trying to sell the world they are somebody.

I personally wear gym shorts and a tshirt in the summer and sweat pants and tshirts in the winter. I don't make any money off of my appearance so I do not invest in my appearance. I don't buy new cars, even though I can pay cash for one. I don't tell myself I deserve something nice because I have worked for a long time. I put away money and I make my money grow with investments. I multiply my life savings by 10 every 7 to 11 years. Anyone who makes $50,000 a year should make their first million in less than 10 years with simple save and invest value investing strategies that any financial planner can help you with.

But, all these numbnuts in the world who have to spend their money as fast as they get it. Who drink booze, smoke cigarettes, do drugs, gamble, buy boats, guns, RVs, ATVs, or the worst of all.... Have a woman that will spend their money on nothing like getting fingernails painted, backrubs, and crap that flushes money down the toilet on things you can't even resell at a yard sale... Those people can win $100 million on the lottery and still wind up broke in 10 years cause they have no self control at all when it comes to money.

My friend is vey money hungry.. He makes $39 an hour in the union and gets over time. His unemployment checks in the winter are $1200 a week. Yet he filed for bankruptcy 5 years ago because he spent more than he made.

All you people out there desperate to get a loan and find a better way to make more money should just look at how you manage your money instead of trying to make more... You are all stuck in a cycle that always winds up at zero. So many people spend their whole lives chasing money and blowing it, then chasing more money and blowing it.. When all they had to do all along was just live as cheap as possible.

I told my friend who makes $39 an hour... I said dude... I had more fun in my life playing football with my friends as kids and partying on the weekends at college than I ever did going on a vacation to Europe or Florida. The best times of my life were free of charge and some of the lamest experiences I ever had were very expensive..

I study behavioral finance.. and a lot of that is psychology. So many people are influenced by marketing an advertising. It's everywhere. On TV, radio, internet, billboards, newspaper... Buy this car and all the hot chicks will want you... Buy this new cell phone and people will think you are smart.... You are an insecure D-bag so buy these clothes and shoes so you can feel good about yourself..blau blau blau

But, I am verbose... sorry about that.

In that movie Friday... Ice Cube asks his mom for money, she asks him if he has a job. He says mom if I had a job I wouldn't need money... She says exactly.

$12,000 to get a semi truck and start a business is nothing... Truck driving pays good wages and all anyone has to do is save their money. I have heard that it is expensive to live OTR, and that is BS... I do my grocery shopping at Walmart where I always see semis parked.. They can buy the same food I can. Eating at restaurants is the same as being a alcoholic who drinks $20 of beer a day. Doesn't matter what the vice is.. it's paying more than you have to...

When I was 17 years old, I heard a reformed drug addict tell me how he spent $1000 a day on drugs and I thought, if I could be resourceful like that drug addict and instead of spend my money on drugs but save it, I would be rich...

I currently live in student housing near a college. I pay $335 a month for housing and utilities. I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, gamble. I don't buy expensive crap like boats, clothing, jewelry, guns, or whatever... I just put my money in the bank to retire young... I haven't worked in 15 years and I will only work for the next 5 to recoup what my wife stole from me in this divorce and go back to living off my investments.

You would be surprised how many years people waste because they are stupid... Go to any retirement home and you will meet a lot of people who worked their whole lives to buy their dream home only to lose it when taxes and inflation were too much to keep up with. Those people spent their whole lives chasing a mirage. Home ownership and everything else is a fantasy cause we are all going to die someday anyhow... It's better to build wealth and value experiences than chase material crap.

 

1st community or pnc. I never needed a business plan. Just past 3 yrs in taxes, and p&ls. GE wanted to finance for me and only took a day to give me an answer. They only needed to pull a credit report. They also wanted 10% interest rate. My bank took my taxes and p&ls and a week to go give me an answer. They (PNC)also have all of my bank records since my accounts are with them. they came back with 4.95% interest rate. This was for a 2015 Fitzgerald glider kit and before we went to closing called them and told them I had found a trailer, (thanks BCO) and wanted money for it. Closed on both loans the same day. Working on another truck now and an equipment line of credit. PNC was kinda slow looking at the numbers but once they were satisfied with my numbers it went fast and they are very easy to work with.

 

P&L means you have an existing business.. Your books replace the business plan and show the lender you are profitable in a secure market aka a proven winner. Also like I said before, I am sure there is a lien on the title to the truck and trailer as collateral. Your work history or history with the bank as a depositor, credit score, and amount of debt were all calculated into your loan qualifications.. It was fast because everything is on computers and they have software that they just enter in the information and it automatically decides if you qualify and for how much.

Finance is one of the many subjects I am intimate with... as well as business information systems and just about every other subject associated with money.

The original poster wants start up capital and therefore doesn't have any books to show profitability. Someone should tell him to forget seeking funding and go to US Xpress or one of those companies and do a lease purchase/ employment type of deal to get his first truck and a history of small business ownership as an owner operator.