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	Writing a business plan for your practice (getting started) A few months back a client of mine called me to say he was leaving his job and setting up his own business. He asked me if I could give him a hand with any of the tax details. I said sure, but the first thing you should have, before you start worrying about how much income tax you may have to pay, is a business plan. Any new business that intends to borrow from a bank, (be it an operating line of credit; or a small business loan;) is going to need to have a formal written business plan they can show their friendly neighborhood banker. Even if you're lucky enough not to need outside financing, a written business plan will help you solidify your goals and fine-tune your operations. The one thing that every business plan should follow is the formal "plan outline". The business plan outline is broken down into three main sections: 1.  Business Description     A.  Introduction Name, Location Product or service Target market and competition Business' management and goals     B.  Products or Services Description Advantages over competition: patents, copyrights, etc.     C.  Production Process Materials Suppliers Methods     D.  Market Analysis Situation and trends Target Market Competitors     E.  Management Profiles Business structure Board of directors and officers Summary of each officers related experience     F.  Projections Operating plan for 12-24 months Staffing 2.  Financial Summary     A.  Financial Statements for the previous three years (If start-up business, provide personal net worth statements)     B.  Projections for the next three years ( pro-forma Financial statements that show best case/worst case) 3.  Loan Proposal (the most important one to the banker)     A.  Purpose and impact of funds requested     B.  Amount and terms requested     C.  Collateral     D.  Repayment plan (be specific)   This is the basic framework of every good business plan and it should be followed exactly!. If you've ever dealt with bankers on any level, you'll know they're not known for their creativity. So don’t leave anything out for them to draw their own conclusions. Make your business plan as detailed as possible so that they wont have to think at all!!!!!!!. You've got a much better chance of getting the loan that way. Remember, your business plan is your bankers first impression of your vision, & although loan underwriters are usually just looking for whether or not you meet their criteria; I still believe that the character of the applicant still counts for something.
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