Starting a Business in Berlin

52 53 Starting a Business in Berlin A Beginner’s Guide Financial planning and financing The capital for financial planning and financing is based on Excel tables containing the corresponding calculations, which you incorporate into your business plan along with the necessary explanations (provided you have not already done this in the previous section). Be as detailed as possible here and substantiate your figures as best you can. In the case of planned acquisitions, conversions or external services, for example, get quotes and include these in the appendix of the documentation. Also remember to include the cost of your living expenses. Research comparative figures for associa- tions, consultancies and credit institutions. If you don’t find anything of use here, make some basic estimations on your own initiative. Further information on how to prepare financi- al planning can be found in the next section. Annexes If you haven’t included your CV in the section on the person/ people behind the business, enclose it with the document as an annex. The same goes for your financial calculations. Don’t forget the most important documents: these can inclu- de existing contracts and/or draft contracts (rental agree- ments, cooperation agreements, articles of association, etc.) as well as market analyses, trademark rights, and so on. Marketing Formulate your services as calculated products (even if they are services, bundle together price-based “service packages”, for example). Describe your costs, prices and sales volumes spread over your products and/or services. This lets the rea- der know which considerations form the basis of your figures. Define your sales channels. When it comes to your adverti- sing, don’t simply include your advertising materials (flyers, websites, etc.), but also describe your advertising ideas and content. Estimate your advertising costs and the impact of advertising on your revenue. Organising the business The subject of organisation often falls by the wayside, par- ticularly in the case of the ‘lone wolves’ who actually need it most of all. Specify how much time is scheduled for each activity. Also: are the team members playing to their skills? Who is responsible for what, and what is the pecking order? Don‘t forget to name and explain the legal form of your business. Opportunities and risks It is at this point that the experienced reader of business plans will get a particularly good idea of the depth you have gone into. With that in mind, you should answer the following questions as accurately as possible: which of your strengths will help you seize which opportunities? What risks can be averted with which strengths? How can weaknesses be turned into strengths? How can you prevent your weak- nesses from inflicting damage on the business? CHAPTER 4