Why Your Business Plan Gets Ignored When Applying For Funding

Gathering enough capital to run your small business is always a number one priority for any beginning or experienced entrepreneur. Applying for funding is an ongoing aspect that usually will never go away, especially if you run a not-for-profit company. Since there are so many funding programs by the Government and also run privately, it is incredibly important that you are diligent and prepared to apply to them throughout the year.

You can never have “too much” money when starting a small business and the more grants you apply to, the more likely you are to gather more funding.

When applying for funding, the most important aspect of any application is by far: The Business Plan.

Even if you have a genius idea and are a fantastic writer, if you do not have a great business plan I guarantee your application will be ignored and no funding will be released to you.

This is because many of these funding programs are very careful with their money, and rightly so. They want to make sure the money is going towards an individual whose company has a clear idea for the year and how they are going to return a profit.

It has been proven that the greatest companies in Canada are run by women and men who have a concrete business plan for the short term and long term, as it greatly helps accomplish their goals.

So many new owners of small businesses often have their business plans ignored when applying for funding. This is definitely not because their business isn’t great or a good idea, it is simply because of the style and the way their business plan is laid out.

First and foremost, make sure your business plan is specific. Funding programs want to know what it is exactly that you do and solid, specific information. Business plans that are just too vague and ramble on and on will get overlooked. Stick to the facts and lay it out clearly what it is you do.

Secondly, be realistic. While it is great to have huge hopes and dreams long term, funding programs want to make sure that you have an accurate estimate of the short-term goals. Business plans that stretch things a bit too much and don’t seem real, will definitely get ignored.

The hardest aspect of writing a business plan is definitely the budget portion. Crunching down numbers and planning your entire year can be a daunting and difficult thing to do. However, if your budget is not thorough and doesn’t represent true numbers, without a doubt the entire plan will be ignored.

Remember, these funding programs want to make sure they are investing a company they can trust. At CanadaStartups, we offer a great Business Plan Builder tool that will help you develop a professional business plan that has everything you need in it to obtain funding. Once you have a professional plan, you are less likely to be ignored!