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Good Business Plan - Part 7 - Funding Request
In this section, you will request the amount of funding you
will need to start or expand your business. If necessary, you can include
different funding scenarios such as a best and worst case scenario. But remember
that, later, in the financial section, you must be able to back up these
requests and scenarios with corresponding financial statements.
You will want to include the following in this section: your
current funding requirement; your future funding requirements over the next five
years; how you will use the funds you receive; and any long-range financial
strategies that you are planning that would have any type of impact on your
funding request.
When you are outlining your current and future funding
requirements, be sure to include the amount you want now and the amount you want
in the future, the time period that each request will cover, the type of funding
you would like to have (i.e., equity, debt), and the terms that you would like
to have applied.
How you will use your funds is very important to a creditor.
Is the funding request for capital expenditures? Working capital? Debt
retirement? Acquisitions? Whatever it is, be sure to list it in this section.
Last of all, make sure that you include any strategic
information related to your business that may have an impact on your financial
situation in the future such as: going public with your company; having a
leveraged buyout; being acquired by another company; the method by which you
will service your debt; or whether or not you plan to sell your business in the
future. Each of these are extremely important to a future creditor since they
will directly impact your ability to repay your loan(s).