Financial State - Expected Growth numbers

[jjtangye]

Hey guys,

I know you get this a lot, but I'm working on my business plan. My business plan is mostly done, I'm just trying to get the financial statement squared away. The biggest issue I have is finding concrete numbers that could support my potential business growth. I was wondering if you could let me know what your percentages were when you started your shops, and the rate of increase of your customer base as you grew. Any help you can give me would be fantastic!

Thank you

[jjtangye]

Wow, seriously? No help? How about what you all figured when you started?

[CARMandP]

You have already done more work than I did for sure when starting my business. I just flew by the seat of my pants and it has lasted for 6 yrs. Sadly now I am having to really make some hard decisions because its crashing due to lack of proper management (me). My business in the last 3 yrs grew by about 100k a year in total sales but in the last 6 months we are off by more than 75k

[J.P. GLENN]

You have already done more work than I did for sure when starting my business. I just flew by the seat of my pants and it has lasted for 6 yrs. Sadly now I am having to really make some hard decisions because its crashing due to lack of proper management (me). My business in the last 3 yrs grew by about 100k a year in total sales but in the last 6 months we are off by more than 75k

Wow, I can relate to all of that!

 

 

Our gross sales increased by about 30-40% each of our first 5 years (excluding the first year). We are a small specialty shop and did very little advertising. Our growth was due to word of mouth and learning to properly price the jobs. I have no idea if that is good or bad, it is just what I experienced. I am now in my 6th year and am also seeing a decline in sales, and I attribute that to the same reason as CARMandP...

[xrac]

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[jjtangye]

Hmmm.... i figured about a 4% increase in my sales forecast. What did you factor for inventory and waste disposal? My advisor from SCORE suggested that i try to itemize/ or be more specific with the types of jobs that i do. I'm not sure how i can do that. Anyone have any suggestions?

[mmotley]

Edit: Removed comment

Edited May 12, 2014 by mmotley

[slowtech]

A shop owner pours their heart & soul into the first few years of business. Most don't survive. The ones who do probably have a hard time handing the blue prints over to the competition. Some things you need to learn after you hop off the nest.

[jjtangye]

Luckily, most of you aren't my competition. I'm halfway across the country from you all.