Bankable Business Plans

For anybody who wants to raise money for their new business, this book is a must read. I am toying with the idea of starting a IT consulting company and this book has forced me to really think things through. It is not easy to get a succesful venture started and it helps if you do all the hard work before you meet with potential investors.

I am in the middle of starting my own small business. I bought 4 different books on business plan writing and this one is the one that I kept referring to. It is by far the best of the bunch. It's very readable, and it is organized so well that I was able to use it as a reference book while I was working on my plan. I also used their online tool too, which helped me generate preliminary financials to take to the bank (and to my now first investor). Overall, if you are at any point of the seemingly daunting task of writing a business plan, this book is the best one I found to get you through it.

Having spent my legal career advising clients who are either seeking financing or trying to resurrect failing businesses, I am constantly amazed at the absolute lack of insight that most of them bring to their own business. When they present plans to lenders and potential investors it becomes clear to me that they have not done the thinking or the research which are necessary to convince anyone of their vision for their company. I have read and given copies of Dr. Rogoff's excellent book to a number of clients and look forward to reading the 2nd edition. This book is a clear road map for any serious business person. More importantly the tools in this book will allow a business person to gain the kind of understanding of their own business which will help them avoid making unfortunate missteps. Anyone who is serious about obtaining financing for a business either existing or startup needs to follow the plan set forth in Bankable Business Plans. I plan to continue to make this book one of my top recommendation to my clients, before they approach investors or lenders.

Not only did Bankable Business Plans help me to launch a start-up, the organization, writing style and succinct instructions contained in the book unfolded logically and clearly. This book helped me to forge ahead, undaunted, with my plans for a new business. Each step of the way, I understood what and why I was doing what I was doing. This is a great resource!

Chapter 10 in this book opened my eyes to a publication produced each year by the Risk Management Association (RMA). It's called the "Annual Statement Studies - Financial Ratio Benchmarks" and is a compilation of information supplied by member banking institutions that get their information from small business loan applicants. The author of Bankable BPs says a sound business plan must favorably compare to the information in the RMA publication, or it probably will not help the loan applicant get her funds. I recommend after reading Bankable BPs that anyone creating a business plan will do themselves a favor by examining the RMA publication to use as a guide for creating meticulous financial projections included in their business plan. Don't write the business plan first, and then compare it to the RMA publication figures. Instead start with the figures and then write the business plan. Another similar (but not as good) publication you might want to look at is called "Financial Studies of Small Business" written by Financial Research Associates. Besides the impressive information contained in Chapter 10 of Bankable BPs, I thought the book was a great read on the subject of putting together a business plan. The author is an associate professor at one of the CUNY schools in New York. I would have liked the book better if he had not emphasized that a business plan was a tool to help raise capital. But he does point out that a business plan is an important tool for running a small business, too. The author listed 10 action steps necessary to create a business plan: 1. Define the business 2. Figure out initial needs 3. Outline how the business expects to make money (business model) 4. Perform market research (study industry, competitors, and potential customers) 5. Write a marketing plan 6. Describe sales effort as it relates to marketing 7. Systematize operations & team building 8. Decide on capital requirements 9. Put together pro forma financials 10. Write the business plan in an acceptable format I'm pretty sure the author felt the action steps were meant to be done in the above order. I tend to agree with the list of action steps, but not the particular order. I think #8 and #2 should be sequenced just after #9. I find it hard to believe it is possible to decide on capital resources BEFORE you have figured out the pro forma financials. And, without knowing the capital resources needed, it seems to me it is hard to determine what the initial needs of the business will be. All in all, this was a very informative books and I am sure it will be a very helpful book to anyone who has to put together a business plan. 5 stars!