Quote:
Originally Posted by TurdFerguson
Why do you need a business plan? Going for financing? My experience has been they are generally a waste of time based on BS assumptions that you are forced to make. That said, the process of thinking through your idea in the context of the business realities and market challenges, which is often what creating a business plan forces you to do, to some extent, is very valuable. Do you need to formally document that? i don't think so.
what kind of business is it? Consumer product, professional services, etc? there are a number of fantastic resources in calgary for this but it really depends on what you're doing.
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when i started up my business i had to get some financing ($60k) to get going. before i even started i had a customer who had already told me they'd use my services. their annual expense for this service for a number of years prior had been around $20k - so i know with just them i'd bring in around $20k/year
i went to the bank and met with probably the dumbest bank manager i've ever spoken with. she was absolutely clueless and couldn't grasp the business i wanted to start or the fact that i had a $20k/year client already lined up. she asked me for a business plan... really??? i just spent the last hour explaining to you the business i wanted to start!! so i asked her if i could borrow a pen and paper. i wrote down two words and handed it back to her. she looked at the paper and then at me. i then asked her if she felt that "make money" was a bad plan. i left the bank and called back about a week later to see how things were progressing only to find that she had been "reassigned" and there was a new manager. i arranged a meeting and after that meeting i had my start up money (i still didn't present a 'business plan'). the rest is history and i've never looked back.
snowshoe - i hope your venture works out. there are times that being a business owner is really tough, but overall i love it. how does that saying go.... 'is the juice worth the squeeze?'