Professionally Written Business Plans
DJM has created the following levels of services to address every client's needs. Please select which plan makes the most sense for your specific situation and contact one of our Project Specialists for more information.
Business Plan Level 1
Bank or Grant Funding. Guaranteed to Meet or Exceed Bank or Government Guidelines
Our most popular level of service! DJMs' Business Plan Level I is the affordable, quick, easy, and professional way for you to get the bank loan you need now. As with all our premium services, the Level I document utilizes the Team Planning Model™ to deliver the professional results that banks, government lenders, and granting agencies expect. Over the past six years, we have refined our Level I to exacting standards. The DJM Level I has everything you need to get your loan and start your business off on the right foot.
Includes:
- Executive Summary
- Company Structure
- Product or Service Description
- Market and Industry Analysis (by DJM)
- Marketing Plan
- 3-year Financial Projections per lending guidelines
Business Plan Level 1
Our most popular level of service DJM Business Plan Level I is the affordable, quick, easy, and professional way for you to get the bank loan you need now. As with all our premium services, the Level I document utilizes the Planning Model to deliver professional results that banks, government lenders, and granting agencies expect. Over the past six years, we have refined our Level I to exacting standards.The DJM Business Plan Level I has everything you need to get your loan and start your business off on the right foot.
Executive Summary: Every good business plan must have a solid Executive Summary. At DJM, we pay particular attention to constructing an Executive Summary that properly portrays your business, its goals, the market, and key managers. An Executive Summary must also concisely portray the goal of the document, contain financial Pro Forma highlights, illustrate the company's goals, and establish key objectives of the near and distant future. At DJM, every business consultant takes the creation of the Executive Summary as a personal matter. Our consultants create a synthesis between writing expertise and clear insights into your business.
Company Structure: In order to get a loan for your business, you need to create a definite plan for your corporate structure. The Level I corporate structure offers your readers a quick glimpse into start-up costs and expenses or a thorough view of an existing company's financial history. The company structure must also convey the legal registration of your company, ownership structure, and location of operations. Sound like a lot? Don't worry. If you have a question or need advice… just ask. Advice is always free!
Product or Service Description: If you don't sell a product or service, chances are you don't need a business plan. But if you do, you've come to the right place! At DJM, we believe that a thorough description of your company's products and services can be the difference between a "plan that sails" and "a plan that fails." We take your entrepreneurial passion for your products and services seriously. Your business plan will properly convey your products and services in a series of streamlined paragraphs, highlighted by concise bullet-points. Your reader will know exactly what services you provide, what products you sell, and how you will deliver them.
Market and Industry Analysis: Here's where a business plan gets really tricky. Individuals don't often know where to begin when asked, "What is the market for your product?" or "How big is the industry you're in?" These are not easy tasks for an entrepreneur, even if you are an expert. That's why we have several in-house market and industry analysis experts, and subscribe to dozens of information websites and databases. We spread the cost and confusion of industry research across several people and sources. The end result is a perfect synopsis of the current market for your products and services.
Marketing Plan: Marketing is as old as the pyramids, but in the 21st century, it's more confusing then ever! Will you use sponsored ads, SEO, email blasts, direct mail, CRM, PR, guerilla marketing, outdoor advertising, lead generation, or the literally thousands of other forms of marketing? And who will these marketing mediums impact? Our marketing planning team is led by an individual with years of experience, formal education, and unqualified success writing marketing and promotional details for start-ups, ongoing businesses, and large international corporations. At DJM, we have insight into marketing small businesses, and we understand the trends affecting today's economic landscape.
3-Year Financial Projections (Pro Forma): Our Masters of Business Administration (MBA) consultants will help you build a projected model of your company's financial future. DJM Level I gives you everything you need to illustrate how much money you will make, how you will pay back loans, and even how you will pay your employees. Our Level I comes with everything the bank expects including: the Break-even Analysis, Projected Profit & Loss, Projected Balance Sheet and Projected Cash Flow. No other business planning service delivers our level of attention to detail, or features financial projections that are as structured and realistic.
Business Plan Level 2
Angel or Private Investors Partnership Agreement
By this point, you've probably read tons of books, web-forums, and talked to dozens of associates. Maybe you've even tried to create a business plan for the purpose of investment, acquisition, or joint-venture. Let's face it - it's just not that easy. DJMs has some good news- it can be! The Business Plan Level II is a 25- to 30-page document crafted to address the complex issue of raising equity investment from private parties, angel investors, or strategic alliances. The Level II offers a comprehensive analysis of the business you are in.
Includes:
- Executive Outline and Financial Summary
- Company Structure and Shareholder Description
- Product or Service Description
- Market and Industry Analysis (by DJMs)
- Marketing Plan with Key Objectives
- 5-year Financial Projections with Investor ROI and Valuation Tables
Business Plan Level 2
By this point, you've probably read tons of books, web-forums, and talked to dozens of associates. Maybe you've even tried to create a business plan for the purpose of investment, acquisition, or joint-venture. Let's face it - it's just not that easy. DJMs has some good news… it can be! The Business Plan Level II is a 25- to 30-page document crafted to address the complex issue of raising equity investment from private parties, angel investors, or strategic alliances. The Level II offers a comprehensive analysis of the business you are in.
Executive Summary: A Business Plan Level II is similar in structure to the Level I, but several significant differences make this type of business plan "investor worthy." A core difference is the executive summary. A Level II executive summary is meant to be used in conjunction with the business plan, or created to be a separate document to gain the interest of the investor. The Business Plan Level II's primary function is to be a teaser or "elevator pitch." It is meant to pique the interest of any type of investor before they read your entire business plan.
In-Depth Research: The second major difference of the Business Plan Level II is the scope of research within the document. While a bank focuses primarily on simple geographic data, an investor is usually impressed by a business plan that takes national and international industry trends into account. The DJMs team digests all materials that are relevant to your industry and market. Our goal is to paint a picture of the present and future of your business and the space it operates in.
Expanded Financial Projections: A crucial element of a Business Plan Level II is its financial projections. These pro forma financials have to be calculated over a period of five years - not three years like a bank-ready document. They also have to show a lucrative return on investment that is based in reality. Factors such as the price-to-earnings ratio of similar companies are used to come up with a realistic model for your investor. Most importantly, a strong set of financial projections will allow you to calculate an educated investment proposition, or projected valuation of your company; this leads us to our next differentiating factor.
Investment Proposition: The investment proposition is an important piece of information that helps you pitch and strike an attractive deal with an investor. The investment proposition uses projected future earnings to calculate the share of the company you should expect to give up in exchange for the capital you are looking for.
A Business Plan Level II covers everything needed to help you find the money that will allow you to launch or expand your business. The Level II can also be used in conjunction with an investor to acquire a small business loan for your company.
Business Plan Level 3
Venture Capital or Institutional Investors
The DJMs Business Plan Level III is our most thorough and most consultation-driven business plan offered to management teams seeking money from venture capitalists (VCs) and other savvy investment institutions. The Level III service helps entrepreneurs maneuver around the hurdles of preparing a comprehensive business plan for esteemed investors. Often, the Level III includes onsite work with our executive team. The Level III is meant to keep time with the trends in VC deals. This service includes the completion of a strong elevator pitch; a strategy and implementation section focused on defensible differentiation; a concise description of the management structure and the identification of any gaps that exist; a thorough and forward-thinking analysis of the market; and realistic goal-setting. These details, along with excellent business plan structure, allow entrepreneurs to confidently approach the challenge of attaining VC funding.
Includes:
- Executive Summary and Financial Summary
- Description of the Market Need and Fulfillment
- In-depth Market Analysis and Target Market Identification
- Marketing Plan and Strategy
- 5-year Alight Planning Model with Sensitivity Analysis
- Multi-Scenario Integration, and varying assumption tables
Business Plan Level 3
The DJMs Business Plan Level III is our most thorough and most consultation-driven business plan offered to management teams seeking money from venture capitalists (VCs) and other savvy investment institutions. The Level III service helps entrepreneurs maneuver around the hurdles of preparing a comprehensive business plan for esteemed investors. Often, the Level III includes onsite work with our executive team. The Level III is meant to keep time with the trends in VC deals. This service includes the completion of a strong elevator pitch; a strategy and implementation section focused on defensible differentiation; a concise description of the management structure and the identification of any gaps that exist; a thorough and forward-thinking analysis of the market; and realistic goal setting. These details, along with excellent business plan structure, allow entrepreneurs to confidently approach the challenge of attaining VC funding.
Concise Elevator Pitch: According to Sequoia Capital, one of the first VC firms to back Google, "If you can't lay it out in a gripping sentence or two, a VC might assume you don't have a good grasp of your concept." At DJM, we work with you to pin down responses to the, "What is your business really about?" and "Why people will buy?" questions that you need to answer clearly before an investor will hear you out. Drilling down to these two core questions and answering them in an eloquent manner will be the first and most important part of getting your idea read by VCs.
Strategy & Implementation: More than anything, VCs like ideas that put current business models and practices on their heels. This is the Bigger, Faster, Stronger approach to business. Remember, VCs are in the business of making money, and a business plan that doesn't illustrate contingencies, strategies, creative marketing, and/or the dynamic position of a product or service doesn't have what it takes to raise money from discerning VCs. The DJM team works with the management members of your company to determine an appropriate strategy and to perfectly illustrate the positioning of your company.
Management Team (or Lack Thereof): When it comes to writing a management team summary to garner investment from a VC, there is one simple rule to follow - keep it real. VCs don't want to hear how you are an "excellent leader" and are "committed to doing what it takes to go to the next level." Rather than page filler, DJM helps you come forth with an accurate, honest depiction of who you are and what your business can be. VCs want to know what you have been responsible for in the past, and what the result was. To ensure that you and your team have a solid foundation, DJMs helps you figure out what your current team lacks. For instance: "Who's going to handle the accounting?", "Who's going to lead the R&D team?" This honest approach to structuring your management team - which can give a whole new legitimacy to your entire business concept - will make VCs want to read your business plan closely instead of just rolling their eyes and tossing it aside.
Realistic & Forward-Thinking Market Analysis: You can't be everything to everyone, even if you are Bill Gates. Properly analyzing a market and observing the trends in a specific market can mean the difference between a business plan that quickly finds its way to the waste basket and a business plan that makes the Wall Street Journal. At DJM, we know how passionately you aim for the latter. We believe it is important to keep your market analysis numbers conservative, and to defend that analysis with ample citations from reliable sources.
Goal Setting: If you help us understand your vision, DJM will help you to "get real." Stating that you are going to grow faster than the biggest competitor in your industry is a GIANT red flag for investors. We help you lay out realistic projections for the first five years of your business, without promising that you will deliver "the next big thing."
Above all, VCs want your business plan to promote a realistic, honest and concise projection of where your company is headed and where it can go with capital infusion. DJM will help to guide you through the pitfalls of the complex matter of gaining venture funding.
Special Case Projects
A special case plan is our elite service for individuals who are making special presentations in either a shortened time frame or to a special audience for exceedingly large sums of capital. Recent Special Cases that worked outside of the standard business plan process were:
- A bid to Los Angeles County for 15 outstanding cab licenses
- A proposal to the Tanzanian government to release 90,000 acres to raise cattle by a US entity
- An executive outline to a Venture Capital firm the client required in 7 business days
- Sensitivity analysis of a new product line to be presented to the board of directors in 11 business days
The Special Case team is comprised of DJM's Chief Operating Officer and the top project managers and consultants. Special case projects generally exceed $10,000 and are only available at certain times due to strict criteria for the consultants and limited schedule availability.