Hello, One of my goals is to seek financial assistance (loan) or
an investor to expand my jewelry business. To do this I will
need a very well written Business Plan. My questions to the
subscribers of Orchid is; Does anyone have a name of a book or
maybe a website address that they feel can provide me with an
effective and strategic guideline on writing my Business Plan?
Many of you probally have experience in obtaining financial
assistance to blossom your jewelry businesses; can you share with
me what the potential investor(s) focused on? Was it something
specific such as Customer Market?, Sales Channel?, Growth Plan?,
Organizational Plan?, ect. or was it the whole picture? Any
suggestions and/or comments would be greatly appreciated on
seeking financial assistance. Thank you very much, Mark Cunha
Hello Mark:
Last spring I went to a 2day function called “Designer Day” in
NYC for Jewelry Designers. One of the seminars during this time
was ran by a account who gave everyone a brillant break down on
how to write a Business Plan for a bank loan.
The seminars were ran by the Jewelers Resource Bureau- check out
there website and contact them. These are the people that will
point you in the right direction. www.jewelersresource.com
dede
I’ve seen a couple of computer programs that walk you through
the process of writing a business plan.
I would think the SBA should be able to help you as well.
Good luck
Jan
In our area there is a branch of SCORE. They are retired
business people that volunteer to help others succeed. They help
others write plans that banks and lenders require. Hope this
helps. Steve Ramsdell
A great source of business help is SCORE - The Service Corps Of
Retired Executives - find your nearest chapter and tell them
your problem - these guys know the business world - if they
can’t help you, they can point you to someone who can - and,
besr of all, SCORE’s help is FREE - it’s a volunteer
organization! Best of luck!! Mike
A little while ago I took a class on writing a business plan at
the local community college. It was a very good class, I think
largley due to the instructor. the book we used was; Eckert, Lee
A. Ray, Robert J. and Ryan, J.D., “Small Business; an
entrepreneur’s Plan,” 4th ed., The Dryden Press, C 1996. LC
95-69414 ISBN 0-03-012894-3 It also comes with a computer program
which is supposed to help you write a business plan. The
computer program is a waste of time. I wouldnt even bother with
the disk. Hoewever, the book is good. you should be able to
order it through any bookstore. the companys address is; They
Dryden Press 6277 Sea Harbor Drive Orlando, Fl 32877-6777
Michael / QuestFox
Mark–I’m only now going through this mail so I hope this isn’t
too repetitive. Start-up companies usually develop an "offering"
document or a prospectus. They tend to follow the same formula
and indeed the same language in the “risk” section. In general,
they are organized as follows:
–Market/Product --This is the description of the market you are
trying to penetrate and the product you will offer. This is the
key section so research is essential. You need to persuasively
demonstrate the viability of your concept. A place to start on
overall market research is with the financial anaylst reports on
public companies in the jewelry business. ID the companies and
get on the web and ask for Annual reports, 10Ks and any investor
packages. Or call the company’s investor relations department.
As public companies, they must respond, albeit sometimes slowly.
Also, you don’t need to tell them why you’re calling, just that
you’re interested in the company.
–Risk Fastors – Boilerplate No company track record, no
guarantees, blah, blah
–Officers – Bios of key people + projected compensation. What
you plan to take out immediately either in the form of shares or
cash
–Offering – describe exactly what you need and what you’re
going to give up in return.
It’s a good idea to try to obtain a sample prospectus – go on
line and look for one.
Also, a tip. Try like hell to get make a private placement – a
private investor. The next step is usually the venture caps and
they always want too much of the company.
Hope this isn’t too repetitive. Fleury Sommers