Planning to Succeed

In order to successfully obtain a mortgage, real estate must have three legendary ingredients: location, location, and location. But it also helps if the building looks inviting, has an interesting history, and is surrounded by a few elegant trees.

And so it goes with successfully obtaining a business loan. In this case, though, the three key ingredients are planning, planning, and planning -- and it also helps if the plan includes some interesting history and a few attractive non-financial facts to round out the package.

Every small business owner is convinced that the enterprise will be successful and that investors can be persuaded by these convictions. However, to obtain financing, you will need to provide objective as well as subjective evidence that your business will succeed -- and this evidence should take the form of a business plan.