Help!Advice Needed with Business Plan and Financing (Canada)

Hi,

I am looking to start my own clothing line here in Toronto. I am more on the creative end and have issues dealing with business plans etc. Can someone point me in the right direction as to where I can get a business plan made. I would like to take out a business loan but my credit is not the best. My product is being made in Pakistan and when I approached someone here for a loan they suggested I could get a loan if I bought equipment and stuff here in Canada.

Someone please help!! I would appreciate it.

[mikka254]

Hi there. I see that this post is from a while ago, but if you still have not found a way out, I would like to give you my two cents. First of al, I am very sure whomever advised you to get equipment from Canada is someone from a bank. Correct me if I'm wrong. Banks usually require assets that they can hold hostage or auction if you fail to pay your loan. That is not the correct way to go about such a situation. Your product is still in the niche phase. You've probably found a few customers who say what you have will keep them coming back for more, but the store around the corner heard the same story. With apparel or such products, customer loyalty is key and marketing could be the only loan you'll ever need. Market your product in a smart way in accordance to the target demographic, whether it's ladies, gents or the young. Make sure that you have so many orders for your product that you now require a loan to complete the orders.

[themusicchamber]

I also agree with mikka254 and found this very helpful and satisfactory for everyone. You need not to take loan without any order with you else this could be an issue later as you are not good in marketing, first thing is to get with someone really good in marketing in your line and then only take some risk of big loan else try to start on a small scale without loan with a small lot and see the market reaction about your product and proceed accordingly.

[jordan wilkins]

I know that there's agencies that will do it.

[pahagwl]

I think no banking company takes into consideration the place where you source your material from, while giving out loans. They generally require a collateral for giving out a loan. They need it because if in any situation, you are not able to pay back the loan, they can sell it off and recover their dues. So, I would recommend you to go to some reputed banks which in my opinion will not be taking into account your internal business matters before giving out a loan.

[Linda A Perez]

Consult a business consulting company like KPMG who can assists clients in all industries by offering advice on talent development, HR function enhancement, Organizational design & development and behavioural change management.

[basics_international]

There are two options that you can do:

1. Opt in for bank loans and follow mikka254's advice. However, you should be thinking critically with the risk in bank loans. Mika already stated some of those. You might lose your business if you fail to pay the loan.

2. Consult a business consulting company that can evaluate the risks and decision making for you. Best if you will be consulting a firm that both knowledgeable in Business consultation and Internal Audit. They can give you a more comprehensive strategic planning for your business. Most of the time, they use methodologies that no other business owners do.

[SBSpirit]

What the bank require is an asset or something that shows them that you already have a business and you only need capital to realize the business.

Consider to sign with a customer a sell letter, on that document you customer says that he will buy an especific numbers of units of your product within a time period.

You can use that document to show the bank that the business is real and showing the gain margin (using a projection of your cash flow), that you will be able to pay the loan.

check this document, to understand what is the structure you need to follow.

http://sbspirit.org/finance-manageme...re-a-cash-flow

[BrianRamsay]

I totally agree with mikka254's solution!

[DwightDuncan]

There are two options that you can do:

1. Opt in for bank loans and follow mikka254's advice. However, you should be thinking critically with the risk in bank loans. Mika already stated some of those. You might lose your business if you fail to pay the loan.

2. Consult a business consulting company that can evaluate the risks and decision making for you. Best if you will be consulting a firm that both knowledgeable in Business consultation and Internal Audit. They can give you a more comprehensive strategic planning for your business. Most of the time, they use methodologies that no other business owners do.

Thanks to share your views.