DocInfo - Ardent8

This is a brief Summary of the Plan, in order (a) to provide investors with a “snapshot” of the Company, and an outline of the project, and (b) most importantly, to attract their interest in reading the full Business Plan. It will therefore need to contain the following summarised information:

The Company - its Management, and financial results for the past 3 years.
The Project - background, market, and summary.
Implementation of the Project and the timescale.
Project Cost.
Capital Contribution by the Company/Promoters and Collateral offered.
Funding requirement - amount, modus, and proposed terms thereof.
Financial projections for 5 years – Gross Revenues, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization), net Profit , Cash flow, balance sheets, and ROI (Return on Investment).

The Executive Summary should be constructed under the above named headings, and should normally be contained within three A4 pages. The impact of this Executive Summary is vital, it's your first impression.

The Business Plan which will contain the following detailed information, adapted to suit the particular circumstances, and referenced where appropriate to the Appendices:

Background to the Project including socio-economic, national/international factors.
The Proposal - brief description of the Project, aims, objectives, justification.
The Company - brief history, operations, markets, products, last 3 years’ financials - Cash Flows, Profitability, Balance Sheets and key ratios (if applicable).
The Products - including trademark/copyright/patent/licensing and other arrangements; the products’ cutting edge over competing ones.
The Markets - including Market Growth, Competition, and Marketing Strategy to achieve market shares and sales. This may be expanded in a formal "Marketing Plan".
Production - availability of materials and labour, and security of same. Land & Buildings required. Technology & Equipment, including providers of both. Operational details.
Sales & Distribution Arrangements - including the sales force, warehousing, transportation.
Administration and related facilities - including IT and staffing.
The Management Team - the function of each member and an organization chart.
Research & Development - effort required to maintain competitiveness and profitability. References should be placed in an Appendix or "Reference" file.
List of Official Approvals and Licences required for the project. Supporting documents should appear in a "Reference" file.
Implementation of the project and the Timetable.
The Project Cost - broken down under the different heads of Capital Expenditure, (Land & Civil Works, Buildings, Furniture, Fixtures & Fittings, Plant & Equipment, Vehicles, Technology/know‐how, Goodwill), Preliminary & Pre-operative expenses, Working Capital, Interest during Construction, and Contingencies. This may be expanded in a formal "Financial Projection".
Promoters’ Capital Contribution - towards the project cost - amount and percentage and collateral offered (if applicable).
Funding Requirement & Modus - e.g. equity investment - details of proposed shareholding, dividends, exit, exit premium.
Any Government incentives/support for the project.
Financial Projections - 10 years’ cash flow forecast (template available on request), profitability (EBITDA, Pre-tax and after-tax profit) balance sheets and key ratios. This may be expanded in a formal "Financial Projection" document.
SWOT Analysis: Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities of, and Threats to, the Project.
Sensitivity Analysis: Analysis of the impact on the Project when major adverse/critical factors come into play, and what steps will be taken to mitigate this impact.

A formal "Marketing Plan" may expand from a brief in the Business Plan i.e. the Business Plan may include an extract or example with respect to how the business may market itself from the Marketing Plan. The presentation of a Marketing Plan is optional and will be subject to iterative changes and may not apply to a very early stage project.

The Markets - including Market Growth, Competition, and Marketing Strategy to achieve market shares and sales. Place any references in a "references" list or file. If there are specific and strategic methods, purposes or partners, this information will add weight to the calibre of the projects team, level of thought, development and prior work conducted before seeking funding.

The "Financial Projection" is the third critical element behind the Executive Summary and the Business Plan (and any subsidiary plans such as a Marketing Plan). This document will need to have been refined as much as possible and be based upon relevant data that is referenced i.e. a population

It must also then be reasonably and locally discounted i.e. to account for demographics, behaviours, trends, affordability, households or any other logical deduction to form the basis of a ratio or figure that is most likely for expected sales, income and/or market share.

From the Business Plan: these sections will be relevant expansions in spreadsheet / table format.

The Project Cost - broken down under the different heads of Capital Expenditure, (Land & Civil Works, Buildings, Furniture, Fixtures & Fittings, Plant & Equipment, Vehicles, Technology/know‐how, Goodwill), Preliminary & Pre-operative expenses, Working Capital, Interest during Construction, and Contingencies.

Financial Projections - 5 years’ cash flow forecast, profitability (EBITDA, Pre-tax and after-tax profit) balance sheets and key ratios. It is important to distinguish that a projection is similar to, but not the same as a forecast. A forecast could be reasonable if a project company has been operating with a level of results and seeks project funding for an expansion. However, for an early stage project, a best-guess "projection" is all we can request.

Where a project has a product it needs to produce there will be varying test requirements applicable to it. Sometimes the testing is vital to licenses or permits, other times it critical to safety, meeting ISO standards enabling the product to be sold in applicable countries.

Products additionally may need to be tested for features and attributes. I.e. scope will define the features the product will be capable of (per a price point and/or target market) and the quality of this product may define testing as inclusive of durability, warranty, ratio re acceptable returns. It's not typical to test for attributes that may be trivial, such as a products colour. However, in some instances it may be i.e. some products may be exposed to sunlight for prolonged periods of time, therefore, how long does the planned colour palette last before it fades.

Also, from a safety perspective - if the product relates to (example) driving a vehicle, does colour affect performance for those who are colour blind. Results from technical testing should all be appropriately recorded. Tests may be conducted by reputable third parties, which is preferred and potentially more reliable. In some cases (example) a small housing product, professional testing may be required to obtain a consent or license to manufacture.

Beginning with a list or table of contents, this document or file should contain every reference. Where all references are external web links, it's fair to account for references in documents i.e. the Business Plan, in the footer. However, for most projects, there will need to be a place for externally collected and supporting documents.

An example: A project that has conducted or contracted technical testing would place the results of those tests in this document or file and reference them in the Business Plan. The same with respect to any supporting Government documents, permits or letters of support.

Also, partnerships with other companies - it's good to include profile, CV or briefs on who these parties are. In addition to this, a project may include quotes, statements, results for similar products, technical specifications.

Basically, items that are not necessary within the actual Business Plan, but necessary for checking facts presented by a project throughout it's documentation - Executive Summary, Business Plan, Financial Projection and Technical Testing.