Top Business Planning Mistakes & Mastering Your Forecast

Are you afraid to start your business plan because you don't have all the answers? In this candid "Ask Our Experts Anything" session, our leadership team—CEO Sabrina Parsons, CFO Trevor Benson, and Entrepreneurship Expert Peter Thorsson—tackles the most common pitfalls that stop entrepreneurs in their tracks. They reveal why perfection is the enemy of progress, how to truly understand your financial needs, and what it takes to secure the right funding. Watch the recording to learn from decades of experience and gain the confidence to build a plan that drives your business forward.

What You'll Learn

This webinar is packed with practical advice and answers to the most common questions from entrepreneurs. Here’s a detailed look at what we cover.

Overcome Common Planning Pitfalls

• Start with Confidence: Learn why it's a mistake to wait until you "know everything" and how the simple act of starting your plan will help you learn and iterate faster.
• Define Your Competitive Landscape: Discover why claiming you have "no competition" is a major red flag for investors and how to properly identify both direct and indirect competitors to strengthen your strategy.
• Avoid Isolation: Understand why the most successful entrepreneurs don't go it alone and how to leverage feedback from mentors, advisors, and experts.

Master Your Financial Forecast

• Unlock the Power of Cash Flow: Hear the critical difference between being profitable and having cash in the bank. We'll show you how to forecast your cash flow to determine exactly how much money you need, so you don't ask for too much or too little.
• Plan with Scenarios: See how to easily create multiple forecast scenarios in LivePlan. Model your best-case, worst-case, and most likely outcomes to make smarter, more strategic decisions.
• Keep Your Plan Alive: A business plan isn't a one-and-done document. Learn how often you should review and update your forecast using your actuals to stay agile and on track toward your goals.
• Calculate Costs for Service Businesses: Get a clear explanation of how to calculate "cost of services sold" for businesses that bill by the hour, from therapist commissions to direct labor.

Understand Your Funding Options

• Navigate the World of Capital: Get a simple, clear breakdown of the primary funding types: debt financing (bank loans), equity investment (angel investors, VCs), and capital from friends and family.
• Prepare for Equity Investment: Learn why having a clear exit strategy is non-negotiable if you plan to seek equity investment and why fewer than 2% of startups receive VC funding.
• Get Your Finances in Order: Hear why managing your personal finances and maintaining a good credit score is the critical first step before seeking any type of business funding.

Collaborate for Success

• Leverage Free Expert Help: Find out about invaluable free resources like the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and SCORE, which offer no-cost consulting and mentorship.
• Share Your Plan Securely: Get a step-by-step look at how to use LivePlan to invite guests (for commenting) or contributors (for editing), making it easy to get feedback from advisors, partners, and lenders.