What is important in the business plan for the bank?
Most entrepreneurs need the business plan for the bank. Although every founder and every entrepreneur should prepare the business plan primarily for their own planning and self-information, the most common use is the business plan for the bank.
What is important in the business plan for the bank?
It is useful to know what the recipients of this bank business plan value. And it is important to be clear about their interests:
The readers of the business plan are first and foremost employees of the bank, and as such they do not want to make the wrong decisions.
They have to look at the lending request from a return and risk perspective. They will not have the same enthusiasm for the business idea and the business plan as the founder.
The business plan for the bank must therefore quickly demonstrate to the bankers that it is an attractive business for the bank.
A banker is interested in five questions, and a good business plan must answer them clearly and positively:
How much capital is required?
Capital requirement is not just about investments, but also about the capital needed for stocks, receivables, advertising costs, start-up losses, contingencies etc.
Is the company's earning power sufficiently high?
Will this new company make a profit? And does the business model have the potential to last?
Is liquidity sufficient to service the loans?
Will the company have enough cash flow to pay interest and repay the loan? Because profit is one thing, liquidity is quite another.
Is the entrepreneur making a good impression?
Can I, as banker, recommend my boss to entrust the entrepreneur with our money? Are the documents and his appearance professional, well-structured, goal-oriented, clear, convincing in terms of content and form?
What could go wrong?
Has the entrepreneur adequately presented these imponderables in the business plan for the bank and developed plausible countermeasures?
You only have one shot
To make a good impression on your financiers, you only have one shot.
Only with a professional business plan that is complete, well-researched, coherent, realistic and meaningful will you meet the requirements of banks and investors for funding.
Unfortunately, fatal mistakes are often made here that can block your doors with the most important banks and investors.
You can avoid this very easily: Have your bank business plan drawn up by an expert. Or have your own draft reviewed by an expert.
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Most common mistakes in the business plan for the bank
A common mistake made by founders and entrepreneurs seeking capital is to submit an incomplete and/or half-baked business plan to the bank. They trust that the bank will then tell them which information should be submitted later.
With this approach, these entrepreneurs considerably reduce their chances of obtaining financing because they disqualify themselves with regard to point 4). This looks unprofessional and proves that you have not thought through your project sufficiently. As a banker, would you give a loan to someone like that?
These people fail to realise that bankers are professionals who want to do business with other professionals – and with limited time. Bankers are not mentors or development workers like you might have in business plan competitions.
By dumping the business idea on a banker’s desk in fragments like a pile of jigsaw puzzles, you destroy your chances of getting funding.
For the bank, your business plan must be high quality
A business plan for the bank must rather be complete, coherent, clear, professionally done in terms of content and form; critical points must be addressed and convincing solutions must be offered. A business plan must convince the banker immediately on first reading.
It is important to realise that in order to make a professional impression on the bank, the first shot has to be right – like in William Tell with the shot at the apple on his son’s head.
Preparing such a business plan for the bank in the necessary quality takes effort and time; experience is helpful.
Therefore, it makes sense for many entrepreneurs to have their business plan for the bank prepared by an expert. I will do this for you, carefully and professionally.
If you have already written a business plan, I will review it for you and provide valuable feedback before you submit it to the bank.