Growthink Reveals that Developing Realistic Financial Assumptions is Key to Business Plan Success
Details Growthink's discovery that many companies overestimate their financial capabilities. Explains how companies can be more realistic in their financial planning.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 5, 2005 -- In response to too many companies significantly overestimating potential profits in their business plans, Growthink revealed today the critical element in developing financials for your plan.
Many investors skip straight to the financial section of the business plan. It is critical that the assumptions and projections in this section be realistic. Plans that show penetration, operating margin and revenues per employee figures that are poorly reasoned, internally inconsistent or simply unrealistic greatly damage the credibility of the entire business plan. In contrast, Growthink has found that sober, well-reasoned financial assumptions and projections communicate operational maturity and credibility.
For instance, if the company is categorized as a networking infrastructure firm, and the business plan projects 80% operating margins, investors will raise a red flag. This is because investors can readily access the operating margins of publicly-traded networking infrastructure firms and find that none have operating margins this high.
Growthink has found that, as much as possible, the financial assumptions should be based on actual results from your or other firms. As the example above indicates, it is fairly easy to look at a public companys operating margins and use these margins to approximate your own. Likewise, the business plan should base revenue growth on other firms. Many firms find this impossible, since they believe they have a break-through product in their market, and no other company compares. In such a case, base revenue growth on companies in other industries that have had break-through products. If you expect to grow even faster than they did (maybe because of new technologies that those firms werent able to employ), you can include more aggressive assumptions in your business plan as long as you explain them in the text.
The financials can either enhance or significantly harm your business plans chances of assisting you in the capital-raising process. By doing the research to develop realistic assumptions, based on actual results of your or other companies, the financials can bolster your firms chances of winning investors. As importantly, the more realistic financials will also provide a better roadmap for your companys success.
About Growthink
Since its inception, Growthink has developed over 200 business plans. Growthink clients have collectively raised over $750 million in financing, launched numerous new product and service lines and gained competitive advantage and market share. Growthink has become the firm of choice for venture capital firms, angel investors, corporations and entrepreneurs in the know. For more information please visit http://www.growthink.com
Contact Information:
Growthink
1800 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Suite B
Los Angeles, CA 90291
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