[RayCarrie]

We have a nut roasting concession business but have purchased a building in which we will be opening an ice cream and nut shop.
We don't know how to write the financials page for our business plan. We haven't started selling ice cream yet and the nuts have only been sold at fairs with some wholesaling.
Is the entire section just about where we hope to go with this business or is there an actual formula we should follow in order to better determine what the business should make? How can we make projections on a business that hasn't been yet?

[Clough]

Did you use an example for your business plan, or did you just do it yourself without having some kind of example to follow?

[RayCarrie]

We followed an example from the SBA. We have a vision of what this shop will do and how it will fit into the community, we just don't know how to determine the potential.

[Clough]

Yours is a difficult question. No one can predict the future. There are always risks involved in starting any business. You could make a lot or just enough to break even to not really making much at all. It's very hard to figure because of all the variables that could be involved.

I would suggest writing about your vision of what you hope will be the projected income for your business based upon all of your other expenses that you will have and according to your business plan for the integration of your business into the community as a potentially profitable and proactive venture for you and the community. You won't really know how things are going to go financially until you have been operating your business for awhile according to the vision that you have for it.

[SBU]

Since this will be your first year of business for the ice cream and nut shop I would do two things. First, follow the advice Clough mentioned. Second, for your first year do a very detailed break even analysis and adjust every month or every quarter based on year to date sales. You also need to adjust your forecasted numbers from the incomes statement, balance sheet, and cashflow statement. While a vision is good, you need to be sure you are realistic. I don't know how you are financing your business, but if it was leveraged through a bank (which I'm assuming it was) you need to be very detailed on your cashflow statements because that will be your most difficult thing to manage with the purchase of a new building. If you paid for it or there was some private equity cash injection (which I am assuming it was not) you still need to do those things but there is a little less pressure.

For some examples of a completed financial statement go to this link: Financial Plan.

This a financial plan I did for a non-existing company and it is a plan I will probably never use because I don't believe the industry can grow enough in the long run (6 plus years). It has nothing to do with your business but just look at the I/S, B/S, and CFS. After which look at the key assumptions that all three statements are built around. This plan is fairly detailed, but I did not include quarterly forecasts for the first year which I would do if I were you. Also the break-even analysis should be more detailed than I have done. But it gives you realistic numbers you can look at to see how it all ties together.

Long story short, plan, adjust, plan, adjust, plan, adjust, and plan, and adjust at least every quarter so your plan can get more detailed and more accurate every time.

[RayCarrie]

Thank you; we'll be able to use all of this information. Because we paid cash for all of our equipment and put a good amount down on the building, we don't have anyone at the bank keeping close tabs on us. In a case like this, that may have been helpful. We'll just keep plugging away, though, and constantly update our numbers.