Business Plan Generator Blog

Cash flow forecasts got you down? Creating a cash flow report is a necessary part of managing a business, but can also be downright tedious. Take heart and explore these time-saving templates, apps and services that can make your cash flow reporting job a whole lot easier...

Have you ever considered the various businesses that participate in putting on a Major League Baseball game? While the "businesses" that get the most attention are the baseball teams, there are many other businesses that handle the food concessions, the shops that sell jerseys and other team paraphernalia, the company that manages the stadium, and the list goes on and on. In order to properly forecast financial results, it is important to distinguish whether the company is essentially a "manufacturer" or a "service provider". In this article, I will discuss the differences between these two types of companies and explain how these differences affect their financial forecasts.

We can argue all day long about whether your business plan should be 3 pages or 30 pages, but one thing is certain: You aren’t finished with the plan until you can describe the 5 critical aspects of your company: The idea, the product, the market, the team, and the money.

Let’s face it. Writing a traditional business plan is a bother… nobody loves the reading, writing and arithmetic that go into a plan. We want to get started. We want to make some money. We are a generation of “Just Do It”, and we want to do it NOW!

Imagine that you have the opportunity to invest in a company. The current owner paints a very bright picture of the company’s future. He says that the company has been so busy that current employees can't keep up with sales. As a result, the company needs cash to continue to grow. The company’s income statement looks too good to be true as it shows a lot of revenue and very few expenses. (You’ve discovered a cash cow!)

In many ways, starting a business is like becoming a new parent. From the very beginning, you have to spend a lot of time caring for the business to help it survive. You find yourself continually sacrificing your own wants to give it a better chance to succeed. Even when you try to spend some time away from it, you can’t resist calling the “babysitters” to check on it.

Do you want to improve your business’ chances of succeeding? By taking the time to select the best legal form for your business you can improve your chances of growing your business and surviving through difficult times.