One of my relatives, recently arrived from Europe, had gone into the upholstery business. Retail furniture looked promising to me and an unsophisticated business plan began forming in my mind. No numbers were plugged in—my plan wasn't quite ready to be put on paper since I knew nothing about business.
To learn, I would get a job selling furniture in a retail store. An ingenious shortcut, to be sure, but I would have to provide evidence of experience in order to get the job. Perusing newspapers, I spotted two ads for furniture salesmen, both on Queen Street West in Toronto where, at the time, there were many furniture stores.
Early the next morning I rushed to the closest location listed, all the time furiously concocting a history of my sales experience. I suspect the story sounded unconvincing as I was turned down flat by the store owner. Mr. Rotstein, a bald, pink, elderly gentleman, took but a minute away from his sales pitch to a Jewish matron to tell me to go away.
His curt dismissal of me wasn't a total loss as I did catch a phrase he used in describing a sofa fabric the customer was fingering. His words, in heavily accented English, were, “This material cleans just like a glass.” I told myself that this was one heck of a selling line that I mustn't forget.
Somewhat chastened but determined to persist, I walked east crossing Spadina Avenue to my next stop. At store number two, I met Mr. Rotstein's grey haired younger brother. This time, given the chance, I boldly stated that I had been selling furniture for more than a year at the Robert Simpson department store. My bogus story was that I left because I desired a more challenging position, a job where my language skills would be rewarded. A good number of the customers, I explained, were elderly English ladies. Hence, my proficiency in central European tongues made little difference. I rambled on that my potential was being wasted, to say the least. I could have saved my breath. The store was desperately short of help and I was hired on the spot.
I congratulated myself and hurried over to my relative's for a briefing on the nature of the business. I was disappointed. All he could do was show me how to open and close a couch/davenport, the back of which dropped down to form a skimpy double bed. Apparently it was an item in great demand. His advice wasn't much but it did help boost my confidence. As it happened, the store I was hired for stocked bedroom suites and nothing else.
I stayed with Mr. Rotstein number two for several months before moving on to a store carrying a full line of furniture and appliances. All in all, I worked in retail for less than a year before rushing headlong into my own business by renting a small shop on Bloor Street West. First and last month's rent and a paint job took a hefty chunk out of my start-up capital. The rest, as they say, is history.
When an established enterprise presents a business plan to a bank or outside investor—to obtain a loan or perhaps to bring in a partner—the scene shifts to the track record of the entrepreneur. Plugging in numbers is much easier.
The first two pages of a business plan should be an executive summary. Let's call it "The XXZ Company Five Year Projection".
Whatever form your plan takes make sure that all the information is accessible and spelled out in less than fifteen pages in total. It should include the following:
1. Your own and your team's background, philosophy, strategy and track record.
2. If what you are after is financing to expand an existing business, show how your product or service is different, better, and so on. Attach your brochure, catalogue, customer list, trade write-ups (if any), anything that puts your company under a favorable light.
3. Under "Sales, Promotion & Advertising," demonstrate that you have a firm grasp of the market your business is in.
4. Under "Financial Information," realistically project cash flow, profit & loss, and balance sheet, for the next five years.
Manny Drukier has been in business, from manufacturing to publishing, retail to real estate, stocks to stockpots for the past 60 years. He is the author of two books and resides in Toronto, Canada.
