By: Jerry Chautin, SCORE business columnist
SCOREing small-business success

A good idea is worth zilch, zip, nada, bupkis, if you don’t have a well-crafted business plan to execute your concept. The business plan points you in the best direction for knowing “how you will turn your good idea into a paying enterprise,” Sandy Perkowitz says. She is a volunteer business counselor for SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business.” She says, “A business plan is a concise statement of what your business is to be and how you will build it.”

Think of it as putting your goals in writing so that you can compare actual results with your projections. Furthermore, you can share it with your key employees so that they buy into your goals and strive to meet for your benchmarks.

“If you plan to apply for a loan, you will need a business plan as most lenders will expect to see one,” Perkowitz says. Our SCORE clients ask us for help with researching and designing theirs because their because banker require one before approving financing. It tells the loan officer how you intend to repay the loan.

Lenders want to know how much of your own money will be invested, how much more you need to borrow and how the money will be spent. So by including a page called “Sources and uses of funds,” it is easy for the banker to visualize where the money is going. Break-even point calculations, cash flow statements and a starting balance sheet are among the essential financial exhibits.

Many of our clients are puzzled about how to get the numbers for their financial statements. It starts with impeccable market research. Think of research as a reverse triangle that begins with broad-based industry data from sources such as the national census, industry trade associations and chambers of commerce. Then it drills down to specifics including your pricing structure, estimates of sales, operating expenses and cash flow. That is how the numbers get into your financial statements. And extensive footnotes help the reader understand how you got there.

Of course the business plan includes a marketing plan that shows how you will achieve the projected sales.

Importantly, your business plan is dynamic and changes with realities on the ground. Sales and operating expenses are compared monthly or quarterly to your projections. If they don’t match closely enough, your projections may have been unrealistic. Alternatively your marketing plan needs to be reworked.

Free business planning help is available from SCORE, Women’s Business Centers and Small Business Development Centers. You can find the one closest to you by downloading the Georgia Small Business Guide from www.sbaguides.com.

To read about SCORE’s business plan workshop and 10 additional training opportunities, go to tinyurl.com/cydufq.

About SCORE:
Since 1964, SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” has helped more than 8 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops. It is a nonprofit resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. More than 11,200 volunteer business counselors in 370 chapters serve their communities through entrepreneur education dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small businesses. The Atlanta chapter has 100 volunteers in conveniently located branch offices. Note to media: Photos of the SCORE counselors quoted and interviews are available upon request. For interviews with SCORE business counselors or SCORE small-business clients, contact SCORE’s chairman, Jeff Mesquita: e-mail, scoremarketing@joimail.com, cell: (770) 713-1702. You may use this article in part or in its entirety and distribute copies with credit to SCORE Atlanta www.scoreatlanta.org. The columnist’s CV is online at: tenonline.org/sref/jc1bio.html