Contractors Business Plan?

Trying to operate a construction business without a written business plan is like driving across the country without a map.

I remember doing one for the first time for a company that I was buying and needed an $80,000 bank loan. Now my time frame was tight and I needed this money now to make the sale happen.

So I have it figured out that I have one shot at this and I wanted to get it right and get that loan.

So I called my brother who has had experience at this and he gave me some guide lines the banks are really looking for.

He said they were big on cash flow and the future outlook for sales and of course a thing called profit. Now this last one was a big one for me because the former owner was sucking the company dry.

I sat down and did an outline on paper, then got to work and made it happen. I took a lot of pictures of jobs completed and some that were in the process. I built our team as the pros’s in the business and the dealers’ contractors of choice to use for their upcoming projects.

I had our accountant work the numbers so they would work and I did 3-5year projections schedule to show the bank the sales and cash flow would be there.

Then it was all done, and I must say is was a work of art by the time I was done. The one thing my brother said to do was to buy a real nice leather binder to put it in. He said the banks love this kind of stuff. So of course I went a little overboard on this and spent $75.00 on the best one I could find.

So I made my appointment with our local bank officer and in we went and he was big-time impressed with our business plan. Long story short we received the loan and bought the contracting company.

The banker later told me he has never seen a business plan so well put together and the leather binder was the one thing the board was impress with. They felt that since I took the time to bind it in leather that I would be a great risk and gave us the loan.

We paid the bank back within 2 years and even did some floor planning with them also.

So after it was all over we also had our company business plan and I shared it with our staff and moved forward with my vision and built a great company.

We will have some lessons on contractorblab.com about how to write a business plan so make sure you sign up.

Happy Selling

Glen