Business Plan Help

I'd check out Kevin Rutherford for anything related to that. I don't agree with him much, but business plan wise he's top notch (in my opinion). I never wrote up a "business" plan, but had a basic outline of how I thought I should do things. Not sure if they are the same or not, but I just tried to factor every number possible, and always put a "best case" and "worst case" figure. Not sure if that helps any, best of luck!

 

Craymarris-

There are a ton of resources on the net for this, too many actually. A business plan is a very broad term. It can mean a very detailed 10, 20, 30 page or more plan with detailed financials, forecasts, etc. Or it could mean a 2 or 3 page basic plan. Here is an example of a basic plan: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Basic-Business-Plan. Here is one from the SBA: http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/SBA 1010C.pdf . You don't need anything near that long though, but I am including it because it has a good table of contents to go from.

The essential ingredients are:

Executive Summary
Business Details
- What business are you starting
- What is the potential market for your business
- How will you capture that market
- What resources do you need?
- Trucking Equipment
- Office Equipment
- Financial resources needed (How much do you need and how will you use it?)
- Human resources (who will be employed by the company and what will they do?)
Financial Projections
- Need at least 2 years financial projections as to how much the company will make and how you will be able to cover the debt payments
- Make your projections conservative and highly achievable. I wouldn't worry about different case scenarios. The funding source is looking
to minimize their risk it doesn't particularly matter if you do better than projected, just that you don't do worse
- If numbers aren't your forte, you'll need to hire someone to help you

Other information that should be included is your business background and/or experience, especially as it relates to the business you are seeking funding for.

I would shoot for 2-4 pages plus a couple pages of financials.

 

$6 to $11 per MILE? Would you share the carrier's name?

 

What most lenders in this business are looking for business plan wise is basically a 1 page summary of what your expenses are and what you figure your gross income will be.

 

Check the OOIDA website.

 

I have done rather extensive business plans for my businesses. I don't think that is what they are asking. I would have a simple mission statement of no more than a paragraph. Just explain what your goals are for your business and why you need the money and what you will do with it. In another paragraph, I would recommend you mention your experience in the industry. If you have previous experience managing or owning a business, that would also be helpful. They want to know what you plan on doing with the money, such as the equipment purchases and/or working capital. Most lenders also want customers to have some skin in the game, so you may mention your personal resources and how much money you plan on investing or contributing to your business. If you have a contract for the business you mentioned, you could also put that into your business plan.

The most important part for the lender are the financials. The bank is looking for pro formas (projections of earnings, etc.). OOIDA has a spreadsheet that could help you get started. I would keep it simple. The figures should be a profit and loss for your first year (by month) and up to 5 years (annually), depending on the requirements from your lender. They may only need to look at a couple of years projections. Doing projections can be challenging for someone who has no history of running this type of business. I would caution you about being overly optimistic on your revenue and being more aggressive in your expense estimates. The lender wants to know you have thought out your plan and will have the ability to repay the loan. I would also expect them to want a personal financial statement listing your personal assets.

 

Here is a place to help you get started.

http://thetruckingmba.com/2014/06/09/one-page-business-plan/

There are plenty of places to get the financial spread sheet stuff. And a "bank" may want a little more meat that what I talk about here but use this as an outline to get you thinking. They are also not really going to care (and that is a sad statement) about the personal side of why you are doing this. But for the typical owner operator that isn't looking to raise money this will help get focused.