[djexelta]

Are there any useful resources online to aid in the financial forecasting section of a business plan?

I'm in the process of putting together a business plan for a new type of company which I'm finding difficult to put together figures for as theres nothing much out there to compare it with.

I have my primary research but would still like some help translating this into reliable forecasts in terms of predicted income and expenses.

[Drekken]

I am also in a similar situation, so if anyone has any info would be helpful.

[akula]

forecasting is not easy

beyond the relationship between P&L, BS and Cashflow stmt - there's horizontal and vertical ratio analysis, sensitivity testing, kpis and what-ifs etc

...not to mention "entrepreneurial finance" type forcasting (i.e. valuations)

to be frank - this stuff is best learnt at university level with some sort of a vocational course.

alternatively: portable mba

blans.com software ....but it doesn't do the ratio analysis

unfortunately....this is the kind of stuff that's not very intuative

[akula]

Originally Posted by djexelta

Are there any useful resources online to aid in the financial forecasting section of a business plan?

I'm in the process of putting together a business plan for a new type of company which I'm finding difficult to put together figures for as theres nothing much out there to compare it with.

I have my primary research but would still like some help translating this into reliable forecasts in terms of predicted income and expenses.

if you can't do this...don't worry about it

sell some stuff, put $ in bank, pay expenses, take profit and get a book keeper.

I can't imagine one perspective from where I'd find it reasonable for you having to fully learn financial statement analysis and forecasting.

...unless you just want to do it for procrastination.

why do you need this stuff right now?

anything you forecast isn't gonna be any where near what the actuals are gonna be like .....it's just useless rubbish.

forecasting is suited for large corporations.

nascent startups only need to worry about cash in- cash out and being able to pay the bills.

get big - then do forecasts.

drop everything. stop being an impediment to your self and GO SELL SOMETHING

if you absolutely must have a forecast: use somebody else's annual report, just make up some numbers, put the thing in the draw and get this compulsion out of your system. then you can start to build your actual business - not some excel inspired day dream

[djexelta]

Hi akula and thankyou for your advice.

I understand where you are coming from and agree with most of your points.

I would love to just skip all that crap and get out there and SELL but in order to get clients onboard i'm going to need a good business plan with me and I am expecting the clients that I present my business to are also going to want to see some reliable forecast figures.

hey, if you believe I can get away with making them up then great?!

[DaveAPN]

The easiest way to setup a forecast is to use some known metrics and develop a normal curve of potential.

Basically, your business will fall anywhere in between complete failure and next company to go public. Somewhere in between there.

A forecast should provide a model for saying 'IF we hit X milestone THEN we will be at this point...' Usually you want to plot this on a curve so that you've got a worst case scenario, expected scenario, and best case scenario plotted out. Emphasize how bad the worst case can get, that will draw in serious investors & debtors, because if the worst case isn't that bad, they'll be intrigued.

Cheers,

[NeeJam]

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg...mId=1073791235 < this might help

[akula]

Originally Posted by djexelta

Hi akula and thankyou for your advice.

I understand where you are coming from and agree with most of your points.

I would love to just skip all that crap and get out there and SELL but in order to get clients onboard i'm going to need a good business plan with me and I am expecting the clients that I present my business to are also going to want to see some reliable forecast figures.

hey, if you believe I can get away with making them up then great?!

yeah man,

if this was a few years back - I'd be the first to encourage you to write the biz plan, do some killer forecasting and spend 12 months agonising over your executive summary.

but that's because I was (am?) stupid

I've made those mistakes and let me assure you that no customer will worry about your business plan, in as much as they'll worry about you solving their problem and giving them a good deal.

likewise, if you were doing a particular kind of venture (i.e. a power plant in Mumbai), I'd encourage you to power up the excel - but you're not.

you're starting a small business

what you need is sales

what you don't need are forecasts and business planning

why? because it's guaranteed that as you progress along your sales learning curve, you'll rewrite your original business plan and forecasts 10 times over - before discover a really great opportunity and starting a new venture completely different to what you're doing now.

that's just how entrepreneurship works

so...hit the pavement...make some sales, and move closer to starting your next venture

take this advice, make it work for you - and in case it doesn't (which it will), blame everything on akula

you don't need to trust me that what I'm saying is practical reasoning. go and ask any seasoned entrepreneur about their experience with business plans and forecasts. they'll tell you the same thing - away from the classroom - the reality of starting new small businesses has little to do with textbook ideals - and more to do with compromise.

everyday you spend away from the phone, and sit in front of the word processor - you're losing money, rhythm and confidence in your self. you're making a conscious choice to do this because you have a fear of being sucessful. you can't get rejected if you're sitting at home typing P&Ls. it's your comfort zone.

Please correct this problem. Go and share your vision/product with other people. It's Ok. Don't be afraid. Everything will turn out a lot better than what you expect.

Remember this: if I was on your board - I'd fire the entrepreneur who gave me the excuse "we're not making sales because I'm in the midst of planning how to make sales", and you would do the same.

[tygjr]

I have created a financial model that might fit your needs

[posylane]

This advice might be too late for you, but one of the best ways is to work for someone else already doing what you are thinking off. We were able to get full financials so that even we were comfortable with our investment.