FORTUNE Small Business:

Show me the money

Need to get funding? Here's a step-by-step plan to calculate how much you need to raise.

By Patrick Thean
President, Gazelles Systems, Ashburn, Va.

(FSB Online) -- Dear FSB: I am interested in opening a car wash/gas station/coffee shop in a nearby town that lacks the essentials of suburbia. I have a location in mind but need to know how to get the funds for land, buildings, machines, licenses, etc. Got any brilliant ideas?

- Joshua Beller, Westlake Village, Calif.

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Dear Joshua: To get funding for your project, you will need to put together a simple business plan that describes how much money you need to raise. It should provide potential investors with key information:

1. A brief overview of your business. Tell what type of business you intend to build and how you expect it to make money.

2. Your financial model. What will your start up costs be? How much business do you expect to receive? What are your projected profits?

3. Your planned use of the funds. How will you make your project come to fruition?

4. What is in it for investors? How and when will you repay those who bet on your business? And how much of a return should they expect?  Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.