Stanton Financing Guide

Are you the victim of a high interest rate auto loan? If so, the following email discussion may help you. Read on:

DEAR LoanResources.Net:

I was very impressed with your article entitled “8 Point Checklist, Evaluating Online Lenders.”

I have tried several sources to refinance my auto. I only have 2 more years to pay $245.04 a month. I owe 4,414.00 on the car loan.

This may not seem like a lot of money but I would like a lower interest rate on my car loan which is now $16.4% APR.

I want to still pay it off in 24 months but at a lower rate so that I can use the money saved to help pay off other bills.

In my internet searches, the auto refinance loans required that you borrow more money than I need. I tried to search for unsecured personal loans on your website and they also required that I borrow more money.

I have a very good credit record and I am working to get some of my bills paid off.

Is there anything you can suggest so that I can get a lower rate auto loan for under $5,000? Any assistance will be appreciated.

Thanks. Geraldine W.

DEAR Geraldine:

Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner. I took a couple weeks off to be with family…Thanks for the compliment on the article!

Anyway, I read your email and I do indeed have a suggestion or two that I’m happy to share.

A COUPLE THINGS INITIALLY:

1. First, you’re paying a very high interest rate at 16.4% APR for an auto loan! I’m going to assume that your statement as to your good credit is accurate. If that’s true, then you do indeed need to fix this.

2. Since you only need $5000, with the intention of paying it off in 2 years or less, I don’t think you should look for a refinance auto loan or a refinance on your home. Indeed, the bank is going to want to loan you much more money, usually at least $25,000. While a refinance or equity loan on your home does offer tax benefits, we’re only talking about interest on $5,000 over the course of 2 years. I have another idea you may not have considered.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED?

Have you considered just putting the balance of your car loan on a credit card that has a lower interest rate?

1. Credit Cards are, indeed, unsecured lines of credit with financial institutions.

2. They are the perfect financial vehicle for a $5,000 transfer of debt, with added flexibility, and you should be able to find an interest rate between 9 to 11%, and better, on average.

3. IN ADDITION! Once approved, the bank will usually give you blank checks for balance transfers (sometimes they’ll just do it for you right over the phone)…,

4. AND GUESS WHAT? The majority of the time, the incentive interest rates on the balance transfers are EXTREMELY low; sometimes zero percent for up to 6 months to a year.

5. IN ADDITION! you can apply for incentive cards that provide rewards for your spending….free airline miles, cash back programs, etc. I use the American Express Blue, and I get cash back of up to 3% on everything I spend. So, for $5,000, 3% cash back, AMEX

Should you decide to buy an existing business, several factors enter into consideration of how to finance it. Let us discuss the most important of these factors.

The amount of capital required.

Nearly all sales of small businesses are, strictly speaking, merely sales of the assets of the business. The buyer does not want to purchase “the business” because that would include liabilities, including unpaid taxes, exposure to law suits under the prior ownership, etc. This is not to say, however, that the amount agreed upon is all the buyer needs.

Buyers commonly underestimate the amount of capital required to purchase a business. Capital must be available not only to pay the purchase price but also for:

funds to operate until the business is generating cash,

funds to meet unexpected expenses, and

funds as a reserve to allow for errors in expectations.

A buyer must think beyond the purchase price to determine the amount of capital needed. Here are some questions that must be asked:

Do I have enough capital to pay the purchase price?

Do I have enough capital to support 1 to 3 months’ operations–such as payroll and other cash expenses–while the business reaches a self-supporting stage?

Do I have some extra capital to cover needs I may have overlooked (perhaps 10 to 15 percent of the purchase price?

The type of capital required.

The buyer must decide how much of the selling price will be covered by equity capital, i.e. investment in the business by the owner or owners, and debt capital, borrowing that must be repaid.

If a combination is to be used, the equity capital provides a margin of safety for a lender. The greater the amount of equity capital, other things being equal, the easier it is to get debt capital.

In purchases of small businesses, the primary source of equity capital is generally the personal savings of the buyer of the business. Few buyers, however, have enough personal savings to finance the purchase of a small business without any debt financing.

The sources of available capital.

An individual may borrow money for the purchase of a business by obtaining a personal loan, by borrowing against insurance policies, or by refinancing a home mortgage. These debts are not direct debts of the business, but the debts of a small business and the personal debts of the owner cannot be completely separated. Banks are the principal institutional source of debt capital for small businesses.

The seller will sometimes finance part of the cost of the sale directly. Sometimes this can make the buyer wonder whether the seller is too interested in getting out from under the business, or if the business is as good as it looks.

The length of time needed to pay back the capital source from the business operation.

No matter where debt originates, a critical question is whether the business can support the debt payments in addition to all the other costs of doing business.

Due diligence: Evidence of ownership

The buyer should get from the seller a certified abstract of title for each parcel of real estate involved in the transaction. The abstract should be examined by the buyer’s attorney. In addition to disclosing any defects in the title, examination of the abstract and the abstractor’s certificate will usually show whether there are any unreleased mortgages, judgment liens, mechanics’ liens, tax liens, or unpaid real-estate taxes and special assessments.

The seller should be asked to show evidence of ownership of principal items of personal property in the form of bills of sales, receipts, assignments, motor-vehicle title certificates, and so on. Such evidence will not prove that there are no recorded liens against the property, but lack of it should alert the buyer to the possibility that personal property in the physical possession of the seller is rented, leased, borrowed, or delivered on consignment.

John B. Vinturella, Ph.D. has almost 40 years experience as a management and strategic consultant, entrepreneur, author, and college professor. For 20 of those years, Dr. Vinturella was owner/president of a distribution company that he founded. He is a principal in business opportunity sites jbv.com and muddledconcept.com, and maintains business and political blogs.

Businesses are something which have a tendency to change hands now and again over the entire life of the business. Whether it is a merger or an outright sale, there are certain factors which will affect the overall value of a business that is put up for sale by its current owner. The following paragraphs will highlight some of these factors and explain why the overall value of business can be altered from time to time.

Delaying the Sale

Selling one’s business is an extremely important decision for a business owner to make. The sale thereof is something which can either make or break the financial stability of an individual at times. A factor which tends to affect the overall value of a business is a delay with regard to deciding whether or not to sell the business. As there are times when the market would be most profitable for a business sales transaction, this time period can pass should an individual business owner wait too long to determine whether to sell or not.

Not only outside factors, such as the general market, will affect the sale of a business. Internal factors such as a decrease in sales, creditors and unrest amongst employees within the company may all affect the time period in which a business goes up for sale. With that said, it is important that individuals sell when the time is right for selling. Unreasonable delay in a sale of a business may have adverse effects on the overall value of the business.

Private Business Owners Lack the Resources

Another factor which affects the overall value of a business with regard to the sale thereof has a lot to do with the lack of resources that many business owners experience. Unlike their corporate counterparts, smaller business owners do not have attorneys, accountants and financial advisors at their beck and call who can aid them in the sale of their business. Due to the lack of these professionals, business owners tend to take longer selling their business and finding the best buyers which will affect the overall value of the business.

Lack of Appropriate Business Sale Knowledge

Much of the information which an individual can gain from outside media sources such as television, magazines and websites deals with selling larger companies. For those individuals who are looking to sell a smaller, privately owned business, they may find difficulty gaining valuable insight into how to sell their business so that it brings in the most profitable price. Not having the requisite business knowledge can hinder the overall value of one’s business, as they do not know how to sell the business in a way which brings in the best price.

Future Profitability

A buyer in a business purchase transaction wants to know that the business which they are purchasing is one that will see future profits. It is not only important for the business to be seen as doing well at that particular moment in time, but it is also vital that the business will continue to do well in the future. Therefore, future profitability is something which will drive up the value of a business. After all, who really wants to purchase a business that will go downhill soon thereafter. The answer to that question is probably no one. If a current business owner can show factors which relate to future profitability of the business, then their business may be one that is portrayed as having good value.

Position the Company for Sale

A business that is going to achieve the best price and be seen as having the best overall value is one which is properly positioned for sale. There are many aspects which can adequately position a business for sale such as showing unique qualities that the company maintains, the value of its employees and the profitability of the company as a whole. The company must be prepared in a nice, attractive package in order to have the best positive value. A company which is under great management, sees good profits on the market and is a good purchase opportunity overall will yield the best selling price. Positioning the company for sale is best left up to professionals who are in the market of handling situations such as these.

Summary

To conclude, the previously mentioned items are certain factors which can affect the overall value of a business that is being sold. In order to ensure that a current business owner receives the best value for their company it is important to take certain steps to avoid sale delays, obtain the necessary resources to help the sales process along and retain the help of knowledgeable professionals in areas where they are needed. By taking the aforementioned steps, the current owner of the business will be better able to get the best possible selling price for their business.

Aaron Muller is a partner of KRBrokers. Visit our website for Seattle business opportunities. Established in 1984 and located in Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond. KR Business Brokers has helped thousands of business buyers and sellers achieve and realize their financial independence and business ownership dreams.

Direct Public Offerings, commonly known as Internet Offerings, are a development of the Internet and World Wide Web. Similar to SCOR offerings in the type of paperwork required, they remain an unknown as far as acceptance by the securities industry. Their primary setback at this time is that there are no acknowledged trading markets (like NASDAQ, NYSE, AMEX).

Test for a Direct Public Offering

Drew Field, on his web site (http://www.dfdpo.com/screen.htm) suggests the following test as to whether your venture is a candidate for a DPO:

1. The business would excite prospective investors, making them want to share its future.

Soon millions of Americans will become “securities analysts,” using computer-based tools for screening and selecting among thousands of companies to invest their retirement funds and savings. Until then, companies will have to attract us with a story close to our personal interests. We’re not ready for the “dull but good” businesses yet.

2. There is a history of profitable operations under the Company’s present management.

DPOs are sold when the prospectus is read, by cautious individuals spending their own money. With some exceptions, they want proof that management can turn a profit.

3. Company and management meet standards of honesty and social responsibility.

When people invest directly in share ownership of a company, after making their own decision and using their own money, they feel a sense of identity with that company. Polls consistently show that an overwhelming percentage of consumers prefer products from companies that aren’t causing harm. That carries over to buying shares as well.

4. The business can be understood by people who may have no experience investing.

Shares are sold in a DPO when someone reads the prospectus, and sales are lost when this prospectus is difficult to understand. Try describing your business in ten words or so. Also, try telling your whole story–what your business is, what you’re going to do with the public’s money and the particular risks of investing in your shares–in a one-page memo.

5. The Company has natural affinity groups, with cash to risk for long-term gain.

Affinity groups may be easier to explain your business to, but also need to be large enough to buy your entire offering. For instance, people in the same area of town may be likely investors, even if they aren’t also customers. Other groups may be interested in the particular technology or corporate mission of a business. Along with the number of potential investors, consider strength of the affinity (how loyal do they feel toward your company).

6. Those affinity groups will recognize the Company’s name and consider its offering.

DPOs for companies with consumer branded products should carry the logo, slogans and color identifications through into the share offering materials. Companies with names that are entirely different from their product names must transfer the feelings about the known name over to the new one. The greatest challenge is to create recognition for a company with no current identification among affinity groups.

7. Names, addresses, phone numbers and demographics are in the Company’s database.

There are ways to “profile” those customers and figure out how to reach them through selected media.

8. A Company employee is able to spend time as project manager, directed by the CEO.

There needs to be one person for whom the DPO is the top business priority. Experience has shown that anything less than that will lead to slippages in the schedule and a decline in enthusiasm for getting the job done. The ideal is someone earlier in their career who works directly under, and speaks with the authority of the CEO or CFO.

9. The Company has, or can obtain, audited financial statements for at least the last two fiscal years.

This is the requirement for the new securities law filing forms made available to small businesses (under $25 million annual revenue) by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless the company has been in business less than two years, we suggest that you not try to save accountants’ fees by using unaudited (even “reviewed”) numbers. In cases where prior years would be difficult or impossible to audit, or where accounting records need to be put in auditable shape, it may be best for the company to arrange some private financing until it is ready for public scrutiny.

John B. Vinturella, Ph.D. has almost 40 years experience as a management and strategic consultant, entrepreneur, author, and college professor. For 20 of those years, Dr. Vinturella was owner/president of a distribution company that he founded. He is a principal in business opportunity sites jbv.com and muddledconcept.com, and maintains business and political blogs.

Raising capital to start a new business may seem like a daunting task, but it need not be overwhelming if you follow a few basic business practices. If you have a viable idea that will net a return for your investors and prepare a compelling business plan the chances are good that you can find investors to join you.

Your first task is to create a business plan, sometimes known as a “business proposal” or “prospectus.” Your business plan needs to be very detailed and concise. You should include information about your educational background, experience and training in the area of business you are contemplating. Just like a resume for a job, include references and any other favorable personal qualities that you feel reinforce the reasons why an investor should trust in your ideas.

It can’t hurt to include any information you feel comfortable sharing with regard to your positive credit history. If you have records of various satisfied loans along with the payment history, that information could be helpful to prove your stability with regard to financial obligations.

If you are requesting financing for an existing business the rules are a bit different than a new business startup. The current owner should be able to provide you with profit and loss statements. If you are purchasing an online business, statistical information pertaining to traffic, number of units sold and paid advertising are definitely necessary. The purchase price of the business needs to be included along with detailed information about how you intend to service the debt as well as how the potential investor will benefit from your request.

If you are seeking investors for a new business, the information required increases. In addition to the information outlined above, you will need to include market research, projected costs and a detailed summary of how you intend to generate income. This information needs to be projected for a period of three to five years. It’s a good idea to project your expenses on the high side.

Have some idea of what you expect to pay your investor. The only reason someone is going to lend you money is if they can see decent profits in exchange for lending it to you. Your market research had best substantiate that your plan is viable and will provide them with sufficient return on investment to justify their involvement.

Before you begin your search for investors, it’s a good idea to have an attorney and/or accountant take a look at your plan. A good professional may suggest specific points that you may have overlooked.

Once your paperwork is in order, it’s time to start looking for investors. One place to begin your search might be friends or family. You might approach them singularly or in a group. Whatever method, you need to have a complete copy of your proposal carefully outlining your research and what they can expect in return for their assistance.

Read the classified pages of your local newspaper. Venture capitalists often advertise this way. Their rates are usually pretty high because they have a tendency to take on “risky” investments. A twist on this method might be to run your own ad either locally or nationally. If you select this method, explain the particulars and emphasize how much they can expect to receive for the load of their funds.

Use local business directories to find companies that specialize in “investment services.” You can approach a local bank, but try and find a bank that specializes in industrial or business type loans.

You might consider incorporating and selling stock in the company.

Another option might be a “money broker.” This can be risky. There are some legitimate brokers and others who operate on the shady side.

Be creative. If you believe in your idea, don’t be afraid to do what ever it takes to launch. There are plenty of ways to come up with the capital you need. Think outside the box. Whether you are looking for $300 or $300,000 the money is there you just need to dig for it.

Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical communication. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs. http://www.americanfreetraffic.com/home.html

You have always been interested in investing in a business, however you always hold back because you are scared of making a bad choice and losing your investment. However, there are some ways to evaluate businesses to reduce the risk you are taking when you invest. Of course, risk is never eliminated, but when you properly evaluate what makes a business worth investing in then you will more than likely have your answer whether the company will be a success or failure before you invest your dollars. The following tips will help you make the right investment.

Investment Tip #1 Management

When deciding whether a business is worth investing in or not you need to evaluate the management because a business really is only as successful as its management. Because of this you want to evaluate if the management is knowledgeable, rational, and able to make the right choices to make the company money and prevent it from losing money. Of course, this is an easy question although the answer is a little more difficult.

Investment Tip #2 Business Plan

A business plan that is well laid out and shows positives, negatives, and how the company and management will handle problems within the business is very important. A good business plan shows that management knows where the company is, where it wants to go, and what it needs to do to get there. Be sure you take a look at a company’s business plan before you invest.

Investment Tip #3 Return on Investment

The ROE, or return on investment, is also crucial when you are considering making an investment in a company. Of course, the ratio of equity to debt can be confusing, but if you evaluate the ROE and other economic factors you should be able to tell if the company is bringing money in or losing it.

Investment Tip #4 Room for Growth

Making sure the business has room for growth in its market is also important. A company that has little competition is preferable, but a company with a moderate amount of competition and a plan to be number one is ok as well. Just do your research.

When you are interested in investing in a company you need to take your time and evaluate the company, look over financial statements, talk to management and have all of your questions answered to your satisfaction. After all, it is your money and you aren’t going to give your money to just any company. So, be sure and confident in the company and have that backed up with proof and you will decrease your risk investing in a company.

SearchArticles.Net includes thousands of articles including tips and information on business, finance and investing. For more business, finance and investing articles, visit http://www.searcharticles.net/business-finance.cfm.

You’ve just bought your house in Spain and because you got such a good deal you now find you have money in the bank. It isn’t a huge amount but with your pension taking care of daily business you decide you want to invest the money. Lets say you have $20,000 to invest.

How do you get the best returns on your money?

Clearly you could put it into a high risk fund and hope for the best. A good fund will give you a return of about 15-20%.

But what if you could get a similar return by investing in safe government bonds at a mere 5% return. Impossible I hear you cry because the very nature of these bonds means you will be lucky to get 5%. And you may be right.

So let me introduce you to the concept of gearing. It is a concept you will be familiar with even if you don’t fully understand it.

When you buy a house for say $100,000 and have $20,000 to put down – you take a mortgage for $80,000. Your property sells three years later for $150,000, which means your $20,000 has turned into $70,000 – a return of 250% on this $20,000 investment or around about 52% compound annual interest.

This is what is called gearing. You have used the banks money to increase the value of property you could buy. 3 years later when you sell your property it has increased in value substantially more.

Now had you bought a property worth $20,000 and paid outright for it, then your property (assuming the same sort of growth) would have been worth $30,000 – a mere 14.8% annual interest or thereabouts.

So how do you apply this to bonds and get similar returns? Very simply – you find a bank – your own for example that will raise a mortgage on your house for the investment. Say you have $20,000 to invest, you get a mortgage of say $80,000 (for the sake of argument and ease of calculation) giving a total of $100,000.

Now we invest this into a bond that gives a steady 5% per annum. Lets see what that does for us.

Note table 1 assumes the mortgage is paid for separately from the fund. If the fund pays the mortgage then table 2 is the more accurate return.

In order to see the rest of this article – including the table of returns go to
www.spanishproperty-direct.co.uk/article_finance1.htm

For more information about buying in Spain and how to avoid paying too much for your property – check out www.spanishproperty-direct.co.uk/book.htm. For other interesting articles on buying a property in Spain visit the website www.spanishproperty-direct.co.uk – you can even get a free Course of Spanish Lessons.

Vince Barnes is the owner of http://www.SpanishProperty-Direct.co.uk – a website aimed at informing buyers about the process of buying in Spain and keeping up to date with news and regulations affecting the Spanish Property Market. He has also just published the book – “The Insiders Secret Guide To Buying A Property In Spain – The Book Estate Agents Don’t Want You To Read” – available at http://www.spanishproperty-direct.co.uk/book.htm

Accounts receivable funding, also known as factoring, continued an upward trend in 2005 with volume exceeding $112 billion. This represented a 9.3% increase over the prior year, which is the strongest year to year growth rate since 2000. In fact, only 2001 was the only year in the past 20 that factoring volume did not rise. A/R funding continues to be an accepted part of financing, but according to the Commercial Finance Association’s Annual Asset Based Lending and Factoring 2005 Survey, two thirds of the volume came from the northeast and southeast parts of the country. The northeast is the major region for factoring volume with 42% of the total.

The survey indicated that only 5% of factoring volume came from the Midwest, which includes some highly populated states with a plethora of companies that typically use A/R funding. States in the Midwest included in the survey were Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Why are the totals so low for these states? One reason could be that Midwest firms typically become utilize more traditional means of financing, and are hesitant to look for alternatives when bank loans aren’t available. Another factor is that 59% of all ‘05 volume was represented by the textile and apparel industries. Most of firms of this nature are located in the east.

Most factoring volume (72%) involved clients selling goods to retailers. Only 9% were service provider clients with the remainder (20%) being clients selling goods to anyone other than retailers. Clearly, even though factoring volume is increasing each year, there are still several industries that could benefit from using factoring as a financing tool.

Factoring is a largely a non-recourse, notification business. 80% of factoring was on a non-recourse basis. This means that if a customer doesn’t’ pay, the factor can’t come back to the client for payment (unless the non payment is the result of product disputes and liability or fraud). The majority (85%) of factoring was performed on a notification business. This arrangement requires clients to notify their customers that their accounts receivables have been assigned to a factoring company and that payments should be remitted to the factor.

Kent Harlan, a CPA since 1984, has served as Financial Advisor and Consultant to several companies and author of numerous articles in the alternative finance arena. He is the owner of Ozarks Capital Funding, LLC, a company that focuses on providing a number of financial services, including factoring, equipment leasing, and healthcare financing. Website: www.ocflink.com email: kenth@ocflink.com

Two Immigrants Live The American Dream

Some may call it a purpose driven life yet the only thing religious about life for two middle aged British “resident aliens” living in Los Angeles is they rise at 5am and are usually asleep by nine.

They rack up about a hundred hours between them in their average work week and have been in the same business for the last four years. However, unlike most who boast the identical grind, Holly and Shirley Yanez, lifelong best friends who married and divorced American brothers, don’t have a 401K, medical insurance or cell phones. They work for themselves, one of the perks, accrued vacation time.

Although both women have excellent backgrounds, one an ex business owner with a five million dollar turnover company, the other, a seasoned technical sales executive, when desperate, found it impossible to get jobs in LA. After submitting hundreds of applications, resumes and cover letters, the 39 and 47 year old women were even turned down for receptionist and retail sales assistant positions due to lack of experience.

With no one to rely on, no friends and family for support, the women, willing to work hard, had to build a business from scratch that could support them and two small children if they were to survive in a new country.

They needed a low cost product they could market globally for free. With very little investment available and no established credit, their only way of effectively and cheaply marketing anything was over the internet.

After relentless research they discovered 55% of all books published in the U.S. are self published and many first time authors have broken all the rules, springing from obscurity onto bestseller lists thanks to brilliant internet marketing strategies. The Naked Warrior and I Love My Life. A Mom’s Guide to Working From Home.

Although the women were not writers by trade both enjoy a good story and had hilarious journals of life in Los Angeles already written. After many committed hours at the keyboard they turned their parallel veracity into a book for less than $2000 online giving them their inexpensive, wholly owned product, to sell. Looking for Harvey Weinstein was born.

With absolutely no experience they started to build a channel to their buyer using the internet. Since the launch of their product at the beginning of 2004 they have developed their publishing house of one into a name that is all over the internet. They distribute through Baker and Taylor and Gardner Books and supply all the major retail and online chains here and overseas. They also enjoy profitable relationships with Amazon and E Online.

Using Bloggers, indie media, online book reviews, discussion boards and chat rooms they continue to market for free and strategic email blast campaigns are highly effective sales generators.

Due to the dynamic nature of the internet, the more places you are the more people see you and the more people see you, the more places you are. It’s magic marketing for a company with zero liquidity. High ranking on multiple keyword searches draws traffic to your website or blogger (free if you can’t afford a site) and the more traffic you receive the higher you rate on major search engines, all of which charge for placement but don’t make any promises.

The women no longer enjoy the lavish lifestyles they once took for granted and never imagined being stranded and penniless in a place where “resident alien” felt like “aliens in residence.” Nevertheless they have fought back, built a business and now have another story to tell. How, through adversity, they have lived the American …

The self published co authors of Looking for Harvey Weinstein available from http://www.amazon.com

Lenders and investors may see hundreds of business plans in a single day. Make your business plan stand out against the rest, and avoid these common mistakes.

1. Not proving that you have the management expertise to make it happen. The quality of your people will lend credibility to your ideas and even to your financial projections. If your management team is not as strong as it could be, join forces with a great board of advisors.

2. Not demonstrating where your revenue will come from – what customers pay you and why they pay you. Don’t be too aggressive in setting revenue projections or you will undermine your credibility.

3. Not proving that your business model and long term cost structure is good enough to make a real profit. How will your business make money – what is your margin structure, what are your costs?

4. Not being clear enough in your product description to allow the reader to quickly see the need and the niche for this product. It may seem obvious to you, but not so to the reader not educated in your business.

5. Not proving that the market opportunity is big enough to get interested in. How big is your market now and what will it look like in 5 years?

6. Not adequately acknowledging your competition. Investors know that if there is no perceived competition, there may be no market for what you are offering. The better you can describe your competition, the better you understand your market, and the more likely you will dominate it.

7. Not writing for the target audience. Although the core is the same, the plan should be written for the perspective of banks, equity investors, and others. Go as far as you can to tailor each plan to the audience’s specific interests to show you’ve done your homework and know to whom you are talking.

8. Starting with a boring, unenthusiastic executive summary. This is the first section to be read, and if it isn’t exciting the rest may never be seen. Make it fun and be enthusiastic. It should stand alone and generate interest for more. It deserves all the thought you would put into a professionally done promotional piece for your customers.

9. Poor presentation. If you have typos and grammatical errors in your business plan, the reader will assume the work you do in your business is sloppy too.

10. Saying too much. Keep the entire plan to a maximum of 30 pages, with an executive summary of 3 pages or less. If investors are interested, they will ask for any other information they need. Amateurs talk in the business plan about unimportant details because they don’t know what they should say and what they shouldn’t. Hire a professional editor to reduce the page count and help you emphasize your strengths.

About The Author

Jan B. King is the former President & CEO of Merritt Publishing, a top 50 woman-owned and run business in Los Angeles and the author of Business Plans to Game Plans: A Practical System for Turning Strategies into Action (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). She has helped hundreds of businesses with her book and her ebooks, The Do-It-Yourself Business Plan Workbook, and The Do-It-Yourself Game Plan Workbook. See www.janbking.com for more information.