# Start-up Projections & Other Questions



## CommieCarl (Apr 9, 2009)

Hi, I am trying to finish up my business plan for a business that sells custom printed garments to businesses and organizations, as well as selling garments that I have designed and printed in a dedicated website. I am very stuck on a few parts of this, as I have no experience starting a business and know no-one else who is in this kind of business. I know others have said to just make a good guess, but I feel like if I am asking a bank/SBA for money that I need to have a better idea than a guess. I would appreciate any and all help that anyone would be willing to give me. I understand that this may be sensitive information that you might be uncomfortable posting to the forum, if so, I would be happy to provide an email address for personal contact or through a private message on here. Thanks soooo much!


My questions are as follows:



1)In regard to your sales:

a.What is the size of your market?
i.Now?
ii.When you started?

b.What is your target market?

c.What is your monthly volume of sales?
i.What was your volume of sales in Month One?

d.How many employees do you have?

e.How long did it take you to reach the point where a month’s worth of sales covered a month’s worth of operating expenses?
i.How long did it take for monthly sales to cover operating costs + loan repayment costs?

2)In regard to your loan:

a.How much did you ask for?

b.How much did you bring to the business yourself?

c.What was your loan planned to cover? (e.g. equipment? Space to house your business? Operating costs for X amount of months?)

3)In regard to your expenses:

a.What are your monthly expenses?

b.How much do you spend monthly on expenses?


PLEASE HELP!!!


-David


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## CommieCarl (Apr 9, 2009)

74 People have viewed this message and there hasn't been a single response!?!?!? Either 74 other people would like help with these questions too or 74 people could help with these questions and nobody has been willing to... not even in private!!! What's the deal?!?!?!


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Or a bunch of people read everything on the forum, but can't always help.
Or a bunch of people thought they could help, but it turned out they couldn't.
Or a bunch of people were interested in helping, then realised it would take too much time.
Or a bunch of bots and spammers have viewed the thread.

There's all kinds of reasons for that number to be what it is, it doesn't make sense to pay it much heed.

In this case specifically... like you said in your original message, you've already read other relevant threads, and you know what the answer usually is. With that in mind, I don't know why you expected this one to be so different.

People rarely like sharing sales figures, etc. even in vague generalities, let alone with the level of detail you're asking for here.

I'll tell you straight up: it's none of your business, and I'm not going to tell you. Just because you asked, doesn't mean 74 people are obligated to answer.

Other people may feel differently to me, so I wish you luck with getting their responses.

I can understand your frustration stuck between "banks want this information" and "this information doesn't publicly exist". I can also understand the frustration of some who think "Why be cagey? Just because it's always been considered private, doesn't mean it should be." That's fine. But as far as I'm concerned it is private, and I won't be sharing it.

But "What's the deal?!?!?!"? If other people are like me (may or may not be the case) they simply have no interest in sharing this much information about their business with a total stranger.

Some other possible reasons you're not getting a response: your question is focused towards the end goal of getting a loan, and loan related questions. I believe (not sure, no survey taken) that most members of this forum didn't use that sort of loan to start their business (credit card debt, loans from friends and family, etc. no doubt - but not bank financing or similar).

I also think the majority didn't even do a business plan. A question like _"How long did it take you to reach the point where a month’s worth of sales covered a month’s worth of operating expenses?"_ makes total sense... if you started the business consciously as a business. Lots of members started as a hobby that grew out of control, or started a business without thinking all of this through (just start and see what happens).

I think what you're doing _makes sense_, but since plenty of people won't have done things that way there's only so much they can help you.

Then there are the people who don't think the details of _their_ business help you run _your_ business, so they have no interest in divulging private information for what they see as no legitimate gain to anyone (I understand that business plans often call for market figures as examples, so the information can in fact serve _a_ purpose, even if not an especially meaningful one).

Every little thing whittles away how many of those 74 people (and it's not necessarily 74 people) can actually help you. Until you get to the point where after a week all you get is one response from the resident grump to at least explain to you why you haven't got any responses, hoping that _something_ is at least better than _nothing_ (it sucks to feel like you're not even being heard).

So again, good luck. But try not to be so bitter than you're not getting responses you shouldn't have realistically expected in the first place (_hoped_, sure, _expected_, no).

If you don't get any actual responses to your questions, then I'd make the usual recommendation: forget other people's operating expenses, etc. and work on calculating your own. In fact, do that either way. Most businesses aren't started out of nowhere. Extrapolate sales and costs from your prototype business into your proposed business. Use your existing experience to your benefit.


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## Bill Dan (Jul 2, 2009)

i agree Lewis's points, i can't help since i didn't run my business yet. But still if somebody else who would like to share their experiences here, i'll expect to read too. Maybe too many questions at a time. Nobody has so much time to reply you one bye one. 

But everything gonna be fine, good luck, david.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

No business plan has ever survived contact with a customer.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

PositiveDave said:


> No business plan has ever survived contact with a customer.


That's very true. I don't think it means you shouldn't write one anyway, but it's a useful truth to keep in mind (reminds yourself not to invest _too_ much into the mere plan for example).


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

It's a valuable exercise, just don't expect any more from it.
You should know what your costs are, where your break-even points are, where you are spending money, where you can save money etc. 
Prepare to change your figures when the world changes.


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## out da box (May 1, 2007)

Lay down some plans, build some spreadsheets, do some work, spend some money....
Get some customers, do some jobs, chase some checks....
Keep some figures, reevaluate- then recalculate- repeat.


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