Free Crowdfunding Website Business Plan
For Raising Capital from Investors, Banks, or Grant Companies!
Please note that the financials
in this complete free business plan are completely fictitious and may not
match the text of the business plan below. This free business plan demonstration
purposes only. If you are interested in purchasing the completed editable MS Word
and Excel documents for this business plan, please click the button below! Also,
the text of the business plan is formatted with a fully automated
table of contents.
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It should be noted that there is no special software required to use these
templates. All business plans come in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel format.
Each business plan features:
- Excecutive Summary
- Company and Financing Summary
- Products and Services Overview
- Strategic Analysis with current research!
- Marketing Plan
- Personnel Plan
- 3 Year Advanced Financial Plan
- Expanded Financial Plan with Monthly Financials
- Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
- FREE PowerPoint Presentation for Banks, Investors,
or Grant Companies!
1.0 Executive Summary
The purpose of this business plan is to raise $150,000 for the development of a
Crowdfunding website that will provide a platform for businesses to raise
capital for unique projects. The business will receive substantial fees from
when a project is successfully funded coupled with upfront submission fees. This
business plan will also showcase the expected financials and operations over the
next three years. The Crowdfunding Website, Inc. (“the Company”) is a
New York
based corporation that will operate in a crowdfunding capacity for businesses
and entrepreneurs that are seeking to raise capital via its online platform to
users. The Company was founded by John Doe.
1.1 Products and Services
As stated above, the primary revenue center for the business will come
from ongoing success fees associated with a project that receives its funding
(in full or in part). The business will take a 5% fee of the total amount of
aggregate capital raised. Funds that have been raised via the website will be
transferred via an automated clearing house transmission to the
entrepreneur/company designated verified bank account.
The business will also earn revenues each time a new project is submitted
to the website. For each project profile, the business will generate
approximately $19.95 of revenue. This is an important secondary revenue center
for the business as it will ensure that the Company will still earn revenue for
projects that go unfunded.
1.2 The Financing
Mr. Doe is seeking to raise $150,000 from as a bank loan. The interest
rate and loan agreement are to be further discussed during negotiation. This
business plan assumes that the business will receive a 10 year loan with a 9%
fixed interest rate. The financing will be used for the following:
-
Development of the Company’s crowdfunding website platform.
-
Financing for the first six months of operation.
-
Capital to purchase servers, computers, and related technology
Mr. Doe will contribute $25,000 to the venture.
1.3 Mission Statement
The Crowdfunding Website’s mission is to become the recognized leader in its targeted
market as a platform where businesses and startup entrepreneurs can raise
capital for their projects.
1.4 Mangement Team
The Company was founded by John Doe. Mr. Doe has more than 10 years of experience in the
small business funding industry. Through his expertise, he will be able to bring
the operations of the business to profitability within its first year of
operations.
1.5 Sales Forecasts
Mr. Doe expects a strong rate of growth at the start of operations. Below are the
expected financials over the next three years.
1.6 Expansion Plan
The Founder expects that the business will aggressively expand during the first
three years of operation. Mr. Doe intends to implement marketing campaigns that
will effectively target individuals and businesses that are seeking to start new
businesses or develop new products within the Company’s demographic.
2.0 Company and Financing Summary
2.1 Registered Name and Corporate Structure
Crowdfunding Website, Inc. The
Company is registered as a corporation in the State of New York.
2.2 Required Funds
At this time, the Crowdfunding Website requires $150,000 of debt funds. Below is
a breakdown of how these funds will be used:
2.3 Investor Equity
Mr. Doe is not seeking an
investment from a third party at this time.
2.4 Management Equity
John Doe owns 100% of
Crowdfunding Website, Inc.
2.5 Exit Strategy
If the business is very
successful, Mr. Doe may seek to sell the business to a third party for a
significant earnings multiple. Most likely, the Company will hire a qualified
business broker to sell the business on behalf of the Crowdfunding Website.
Based on historical numbers, the business could fetch a sales premium of up to
10 times earnings.
3.0 Products and Services
3.1 Benefits of the Crowdfunding Website
As stated in the executive
summary, the primary revenue center for the business will come from when a user
successfully raises capital for their project, new product, or business. The
Crowdfunding Website, at the onset of operations, will only allow individuals
and businesses to place requests for funding that provide an exchange of goods.
No individual or company will be allowed to sell a stake in their business in
exchange for capital. The primary benefit to the entrepreneur/company that is
seeking to raise capital is the fact that they will be able to get the money
they need to start their venture. For people contributing money to a venture,
they will receive a product/service in exchange for their contribution.
The business will earn a fee
equal to 5% of the total amount of capital raised per project.
However, and as will be
discussed in the next section of the business plan – in the future (due to
changing regulations from the Jobs Act) – the business may expand its platform
to allow users to sell fractional ownership of their businesses in exchange for
raised capital.
3.2 Profile Submission Revenues
The secondary stream of revenue
for the business will come from submission fees for each entrepreneur/company
that wants to upload a funding request profile to the website. The business will
charge a fee of $19.95 per funding request profile. This will provide the
business with a highly predictable stream of revenue for the business.
3.3 Future Revenue Center (Advertising)
In the future, the Company may
develop its own internal advertising programs that will feature static
advertisements within the website. These advertisements will be sold directly to
advertisers rather than through a third party system, like Google AdSense. In
the future, the Crowdfunding Website will also seek to develop product
affiliation and corporate sponsorship relationships which would further the
Company’s visibility and revenue streams.
4.0 Strategic and Market Analysis
4.1 Economic Outlook
This section of the analysis will detail the economic climate, the crowdfunding industry, the customer
profile, and the competition that the business will face as it progresses
through its business operations.
Currently, the economic market condition in the United States
is in moderate. Unemployment rates have declined while asset prices have risen
substantially. As such, starting a crowdfunding website in this economic
environment is appropriate given that people have the extra capital available to
contribute to unique and interesting products that are in development.
4.2 Industry Analysis
Crowdfunding websites are a
relatively new industry within the United States. As many more people are looking to start their
own businesses, the demand for capital has increased. As such, and as these
websites have developed, millions of people from around the world are now using
crowd funding websites in order to launch their business ventures. As of 2014,
crowdfunding platforms have placed more than $6 billion of capital with small
businesses. There are approximately 200 websites in operation that assist small
businesses and entrepreneurs with raising capital for their businesses (in
exchange for produced products and services). Each year, these websites have
generated approximately $300 million in revenues. The year on year growth for
this industry is 81%. This trend is expected to continue for at least five
years.
In the future, the business may develop extensive operations as a platform for crowd funding capital
(direct investment into companies) as outlined in the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our
Businesses Act) which was signed into law by President Obama in April of 2012.
This new legislation provides for substantially greater access to private
capital among small businesses that wish to engage in a public campaign to
showcase their business operations and why they are a strong candidate for a
small initial public offering. Once the Crowdfunding Website is fully
operational with the operations outlined in this business plan – the Company
would be in an excellent position to continue to make investments into this
business model that will allow US based businesses to have readily accessible
capital for startup and growth.
4.3 Customer Profile
The Crowdfunding Website’s
average client will be an entrepreneur or established business that is seeking
to raise capital for a new project or business venture. Common traits among
these individuals will be:
-
Seeking to raise $2,000 to
$100,000
-
Is familiar with the idea of
crowdfunding and how it works.
-
Will be able to provide its
developed product/service within six months of receiving capital.
-
Is licensed to do business
within their respective jurisdiction.
-
Will actively promote their
funding request via popular social media platforms.
4.4 Competitive Analysis
This is included in the paid
version of the business plan.
5.0 Marketing Plan
The Crowdfunding Website
intends to maintain an extensive marketing campaign that will ensure maximum
visibility for the business in its targeted market. Below is an overview of the
marketing strategies and objectives of the Crowdfunding Website.
5.1 Marketing Objectives
-
Develop an expansive online presence through the use of pay per click marketing
and search engine optimization.
-
Establish relationships with advertisers that are targeting a computer savvy
younger demographic.
-
Develop ongoing social media marketing campaigns that will target entrepreneurs
and small businesses that are seeking to establish new companies and products.
5.2 Marketing Strategies
Mr. Doe intends to use a high
impact marketing campaign that will generate a substantial amount of traffic to
the Company’s website. These strategies include the use of search engine
optimization and pay per click marketing.
The Company’s web development firm will place large amounts of linking text on
the Company’s website. For instance, when a person does a Google search for
crowdfunding submission websites, the Company will appear on the first page of
the search. This strategy is technically complicated, and the Crowdfunding
Website will use a search engine optimization firm to develop the Company’s
visibility on a non-paid basis. Management expects that a SEO firm will place
large amounts of linking data and text specific keywords into the business’s
website, which will allow the Company to appear more frequently among search
engines. A majority of web portal and search engine companies use very
complicated algorithms to determine a website’s relevance in relation to a
specific keyword. SEO firms place text and tags on the website to increase the
rank of a specific website.
The Company will aggressively use social media websites such as Twitter,
Instagram, and FaceBook in order to promote the launch of the Company. The
business will hire a dedicated social media consultant that will appropriately
market the Company’s services to the general public.
5.3 Pricing
The Company will receive an aggregate fee of 5% of the total amount of capital raised by a startup
project coupled with a flat fee of $19.95.
6.0 Organizational Plan and Personnel Summary
6.1 Corporate Organization/p>
6.2 Organizational Budget
6.3 Management Biographies
In this section of the business plan, you should write a two to four paragraph biography
about your work experience, your education, and your skill set. For each owner or
key employee, you should provide a brief biography in this section.
77.0 Financial Plan
7.1 Underlying Assumptions
The Company has based its
proforma financial statements on the following:
-
The Crowdfunding Website will
have an annual revenue growth rate of 31% per year.
-
The Owner will acquire $150,000
of debt funds to develop the business.
-
The loan will have a 10 year
term with a 9% interest rate.
7.2 Sensitivity Analysis
The demand for crowdfunding
websites has increased significantly as the economy has improved. As such,
Management fees that the low operating cost infrastructure of the business
coupled with the high margin revenues generated by the Company will ensure that
the business is able to remain profitable and cash flow positive at all times.
7.3 Source of Funds /b>
7.4 General Assumptions
7.5 Profit and Loss Statements
7.6 Cash Flow Analysis
7.7 Balance Sheet
.
7.8 General Assumptions
7.9 Business Ratios
Expanded Profit and Loss Statements
Expanded Cash Flow Analysis