When seeking (additional) financing...

Whenever an entrepreneur is seeking financing for his/her business, detailed strategic planning must be demonstrated to the potential investor, whether it is a bank, a person, or another organization. Who would give money to a business that does not have a clear and detailed plan? If you don’t know what you want to achieve and how you think you can achieve it, why would someone else have the confidence to invest in you?

Commonly, a proper Business Development Plan (BDP) must accompany application for financing from banks and development organizations, both for seed financing and for loans to finance growth projects. As an exercise, imagine that you are an angel investor, (an individual that provides private capital to entrepreneurs), and that someone has come to you looking for financing. What would it take to convince you that this person's business or business project would be successful enough for you to make a decent return on your money?

Certainly, you would want to be assured that you would not lose your investment; furthermore you would require some certainty that this business has the potential to generate a substantial profit in the future.

Strategic planning is a necessary first requirement in this process; hopefully this planning will reveal that there is a strong business opportunity for a given business venture or project.

Case Study - Planning for Financing: Maritime Soycraft