Financial Statement

When creating a financial statement for my business's budgets and sales forecast; I learned a few things.  First it is not an easy task, rather time consuming, actually.  It is not a fun project by any stretch of the word but a necessary one.  The research alone will drown you into a state of deep depression.  HOWEVER -  Thanks to the good folks at Nevada State bank, an easy-to-adapt excel workbook version was available and I was able to plug in my figures and calculations.  I still had to determine what these figures were and actually had to do Math - Yuck! But nonetheless, it has to be done.
Here are few things I observed:

•  Your figures and estimations need to be real - very real. There is not one banker that will view your business plan based on fictitious numbers. Be prepared to explain and justify every expense and earning. Staring with your cash investment and equipment purchases to salaries and profits.  
• You will most likely not get paid your first 6 months of running your business.   If you have a business partner that has shared this investment with you, neither will they.  So expect to continue working your Pizza Delivery job for the first year.
• The Forecast is great guideline.  You spent all this time creating it - Now use it!  This will assist you to stay on budget - avoid over spending. Also your sales forecast will aid you in staying on top of your monthly sales.  Keeping a running tally of what your actually sales are each month and where they need to be is a motivator to get out and make more money. 

Overall, I am having a good experience with my budget & sales forecast. oh sure, my sales fall low one month and then triple the nest, but with this business plan, I am able to keep on eye on my bottom line and anticipate which direction my business is going in.