Looking for a financial planner specializing in business plans? They're out there, for sure, but it's not the most common exercise for a financial planner to be really good at. If you're concerned that your venture needs a very careful review on the pro forma side, that might be a reason to seek out a financial advisor or CPA, but ultimately you'll find that hiring a company that offers expertise in each section of the business plan is a better bet. Business executives at SCORE can review your draft and provide all of the insights you need on the model, but entrusting the entire draft to a financial planner might mean that something important in the market analysis, for example, gets overlooked:
• Who are the target customers and what are their commonalities?
• How is the market need defined, and what does your business do to satisfy it?
• What sort of statistics on this industry play to your favor?
• The major competitive comparables are important; can you identify and provide SWOTS for each?
• The target market segment strategy should be clearly articulated
The business plan is a serious task and while many financial planners are probably well versed in the intricacies of a 3-year or 5-year business plan pro forma model, the plan is much more than just a set of projections. You have to clearly describe what your company delivers, how it's different from competing alternatives, what risks you face and how you mitigate them, what your management team brings to the table, how you will staff the business, and so forth. Even issues of marketing and competitive advantage can be outside the reach of someone who is an expert with only financials. So call the team at MasterPlans instead. Our group and trained researchers and writers can get your plan where it needs to be: (877) 453-2011.
